Gentle Persuasion
by financebabe
Summary: When Tank and Mary Lou get tired of watching Stephanie and Ranger dance around each other, they decide a little intervention might be necessary to help them see what's been right in front of them all along. Recruiting a small army to help in their task they set about giving their friends the gentle nudge they need to act on how they feel and claim what they want most.
1. Necessary Intervention

I'm Back! For those of you who sent PMs gently nudging (read that as regularly poking) me to come back to fanfiction, thank you. It was so nice to know even though I'd been gone for a long time, you hadn't forgotten about me. I doubt I'll be updating every day like I used to, but hopefully it will be often enough to keep the story rolling.

If you're curious what I was up to, feel free to go to Amazon and look up A Killer Cup of Joe. It's my first original novel and I'm really excited about it. If you take the time to read it, I'd love to hear from you! Now that we've gotten the shameless commercial out of the way…on with the story.

_None of the characters below belong to me. I've blatantly taken them for my own amusement. _

_Jenny (JenRar) you're amazing. Thank you for reading and correcting everything I send your way._

**Chapter 1 – Necessary Intervention **

Tank ran his hand over his face, wishing it was enough to help him wake up. He could function on less sleep than most people, but this past month was pushing his boundaries. Knowing if he stayed in the office a moment longer that he'd fall asleep at his desk, he decided to step outside his usual routine and go to Pino's for a bite to eat. Not only would the change of scenery refresh him, but it might offer a little much-needed perspective.

Having people stare at him when he entered a room was nothing new. Being larger than the average citizen in Trenton ensured that he stuck out anywhere he went. Walking into the Burg's pizza joint reinforced that point as eleven sets of eyes swung his way. A mother in the booth closest to the entrance pulled her toddler to her. Little did she know that her kid was much safer with Tank in the restaurant than outside it, but he'd stopped trying to assure people that he wasn't a threat years ago. Nobody ever believed him anyway. People will trust what they think they see over what they hear, no matter how earnest the speaker may be.

He moved to an empty stool at the lunch counter, but before he could grab a menu, he felt a tentative touch on his shoulder. He turned as slowly as possible, not wanting to scare whoever had managed the task of sneaking up on him. He saw a woman, close to his age, with dark hair falling around her shoulders. She was dressed neatly and seemed to be all pulled together, except for a mud mark on her trousers at her right calf, Tank noticed. If he were a betting man, he'd say it was in the shape of a cleat.

"Mr. Tank?" She spoke softly, but her voice was steady, and she looked him in the eye. He admired her strength from that single act.

"Just Tank will do, ma'am," he corrected her.

She smiled and repeated his name, as though testing it out, and then shrugged, a gesture he'd seen Stephanie perform hundreds of times.

"I'm Mary Lou," she reminded him.

He nodded and turned on the stool to better see her. He wasn't rude, despite how his quiet nature tended to be perceived. Not only was this one of Stephanie's closest friends, but she was treating him with a great deal of respect, which deserved to be returned in kind.

She took the stool next to him, and once she sat down, the low hum of conversation again filled the restaurant. "I'm glad we took care of that," she commented, rolling her eyes.

Tank briefly wondered if that was a skill taught to young women from the 'Burg. No one where he grew up would dare do such a thing.

"What brings you to Pino's?"

"Lunch," he answered simply.

Her eyes narrowed, and he fought the urge to smile at how much that expression reminded him of his mother's.

"Maybe you're hungry, but I'm not buying it," she blurted out, proving he was right on track with the maternal comparison.

"Needed a change of scenery to go with my lunch," he said, adding another piece of truth to his original answer.

Mary Lou looked around and pointed to a booth at the back. "Why don't we go sit over there, and you can tell me why you're really here."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," he answered.

"You're on my turf now." She laughed as she explained, "I have a rare free afternoon, because my boys just left with their dad for a day of back-to-back soccer games. I don't need to go shopping, and I don't feel like being alone. I came here to do some thinking and was failing miserably until you walked you in, and I think you might be just the answer I was looking for."

Not sure he understood what she meant; he did allow her to lead him to the booth she'd indicated. He stepped around her to sit so his back was to the wall and he could see the entire restaurant. Having a more secure seat allowed him to relax a little. "Can you tell me what the question was?"

She laughed and waved at a waitress when she passed by. "I'd love a glass of water and a large pizza with extra cheese and every kind of meat you have in the back." Then she turned and looked at the large man across from her. "I'm assuming you can help me put that away."

He nodded and then added, "I'll have water too."

"You don't waste many words, do you?"

She didn't seem to be malicious in her comment, so he simply shook his head no.

Tank attempted once more to get her to explain her earlier comment. "What were you thinking about?"

"Stephanie Plum," she didn't hesitate to reveal. "You're Ranger's best friend, aren't you?"

Tank wasn't sure if that was the right description for what they were. Brothers was closer to reality, but he didn't want to argue semantics. "You could say that."

She let out a long breath and shook her head. "I can see what Steph means when she says it's like pulling teeth to get you guys to open up."

He'd heard her say the same thing, so it wasn't hard to picture.

"Maybe it will help if I tell you what I was thinking about," she prompted. "I can't figure out why Ranger and Stephanie aren't together."

The waitress arrived at that exact moment and placed two glasses of water on the edge of the table before walking away. The interruption gave him the chance to wipe his reaction from his face.

As he pulled a beverage to sit in front of him, he realized this was a conversation he might be able to contribute to. "I've been wondering the same thing myself."

Mary Lou's eyes opened wide, and she sucked in a quick breath. He'd surprised her, but he wasn't sure if it was what he said or the fact that he'd spoken at all. When she spoke next, her words came slower, as though she were being very careful in picking each word before she let it out. "I believe people have a right to live their lives the way they want to without anyone trying to take over."

"So do I," he quickly agreed, uncertain as to where she was going.

"Nothing would set Stephanie off quicker than to think someone had put their nose in her business."

"Ranger wouldn't let something like that go unpunished," he agreed.

"But if these two don't hurry up and get their act together, then I'm going to have to start avoiding her, because I can't take it anymore."

A laugh was as close as he could get to agreeing with her, although he fully understood what she was saying. He'd been trying to figure out where Ranger might ship him if he had Brown drug them both so they could be locked in a room together and forced to get their shit worked out before their recent moods began to rack up casualties.

Mary Lou wiped her eyes with a napkin from the little dispenser on the table. Apparently, his response had allowed her to see the humor as well.

"When Steph and Joe called it quits the last time, we all knew it was for good. There was no fighting, no yelling. They just divided up their stuff and had a final night out before shaking hands the next morning and saying goodbye. It was the most mature thing they'd ever done, and I knew they'd figured out that they were never meant to be more than friends."

Tank had wondered what had happened, because he could see a difference in Stephanie after that, but he couldn't come out and ask what was going on.

"She told me they were watching a game with Bob on the couch between them, when she turned to him and asked what they were doing. He shrugged and said it was just them hanging out." Mary Lou lifted her shoulders, as though she wasn't sure why that was significant. "That's when she knew…a Friday night, nothing to else to do, and she had come over to his house because she didn't feel like doing anything else. He was her consolation for not having a better offer, and she realized that even if he wouldn't admit it, she was the same thing for him. That was okay if they called it what it was, but she wasn't going to lie and pretend that was enough for her anymore from the guy she was supposedly dating."

Tank had always admired Stephanie's spunk, and hearing her finally stand up for herself made him proud.

"I've tried everything to get her to admit that she called Joe a consolation because there was an actual prize out there she wanted, but she refuses to say it." Mary Lou tapped her nails on the table top before adding, "I know the truth: she wants Ranger, but for some reason, she thinks she can't have him."

The way she leaned back and held Tank in her gaze made it clear she was expecting to hear something in return.

"The boss is probably to blame for that." When he stopped talking, she motioned for him to start up again. Telling Ranger's private business went against everything he stood for. It was his job to have the boss's back, not to betray it. But if this conversation could somehow help those two to quit fighting what was obviously going on, then it might be the kick in the ass Ranger needed to finally see what was right in front of him. "He's said some stuff to her that might make her think he could never have a relationship with her."

"She says he never lies to her, so this must be a waste of time." She seemed to admit defeat too quickly.

"He never lied to her," Tank quickly defended. "Whatever he said would have been true at the time, but the circumstances have changed, and I don't think he knows what to do because of that."

As he finished speaking, the waitress set their pizza in the center of the table, which gave him a chance to take a breath. That was a lot of talking with somebody he didn't know.

"What would have changed?" she wondered aloud.

"He's a free man now," Tank explained, hoping he didn't wake up in Siberia for this. He hated the cold.

"You mean he was married?" Mary Lou looked a lot like Steph at the moment, clearly getting mad on her friend's behalf.

"No," Tank quickly corrected, realizing he was going to have to talk more, because he couldn't let that kind of accusation stay out there. It questioned Ranger's honor, and nobody had the right to do that. "He's not been in a relationship of any sort since he met Miss Plum. I meant that until this past month, he'd been under contract with the government. They could call him up at any time and send him on a mission that he couldn't refuse. Some of these were short and simple, and some were months at the time and could have resulted in his death. As long as he lived with that kind of uncertainty, he didn't think he had the right to pull anyone into his life."

"Because he didn't know how long he'd be around to share it with them," she continued, quick to catch on. "So that isn't a problem anymore?"

"What we do isn't a safe desk job." Tank couldn't guarantee that Ranger was going to live to be an old man. Statistically, it was already a miracle they'd survived this long. It was impossible to tell if it was because they were that good, or if it had primarily been luck, which could run out at any time.

"Is there any chance he's planning on sharing all this with Steph?" she asked.

"I seriously doubt it, at least not freely," Tank admitted. "What about her? You say things with Morelli and Steph are over for good. Any chance she'll share that with Ranger and explain why this time is different?" It had been four weeks since she and Joe called it quits. He knew based on Ranger's habits in the gym that he was bracing himself for her to go back to the cop any day now. He might tell the other guys that it was her life and they needed to let her figure it out, but Tank knew something about this time was taking on toll on Ranger. Hope was an enemy you couldn't defeat without it coming at a high cost to yourself.

"So let me get this straight." She seemed amused, and Tank wasn't sure if that should make him nervous or not. "She's free and wishing for something with Ranger that she's convinced will never happen. And he's free and staying away from her because he's convinced she's going to go back to Joe like she usually does. So, they're avoiding each other and making themselves—and everyone around them—miserable."

"Sums it up," he agreed, taking half a slice of pizza in one bite.

"I told you I don't like putting my nose in other people's business, right?" When Tank nodded, she added, "But if we don't do something, they're going to let this pass them by, aren't they?"

He had to agree with her again. "Probably."

Her nails drummed on the table top once more. When they stopped suddenly, Tank set his current slice down, figuring she'd come up with an idea.

"She doesn't believe that he wants her as anything more than entertainment. He has to take her seriously, which means trusting her with something that's important to him."

Tank was confused. "He does that all the time."

"When?" She acted like that was the first time she'd ever considered that.

"She has her own cubicle in our office. He gives her unlimited access to RangeMan," he pointed out, wondering how Stephanie didn't understand that she was important to him. "He built that company from nothing to what it is today, and he's basically giving her any part of it she wants."

Mary Lou shook her head. "Steph doesn't want his company. She wants him."

"It's the same thing," Tank argued.

"Not to her," she cut in. "She needs something personal first before she can see this gift for what he intends it to be."

"His daughter," Tank countered. "Few people even knew he had one, and when there was trouble with Julie, Ranger went straight to Stephanie. She was the only one he trusted with his daughter."

"I'll give you that one," Mary Lou agreed. "But after that was over, he left for three months, and when he came back, he was as distant as ever."

It was hard to argue her point. Ranger had briefly entertained the idea that the only way to keep safe the people he loved was to cut them from his life entirely. It took Tank almost a year to beat that idea out of him.

"She needs to see that what he's offering her has meaning to him, so she can see that he takes her seriously," Mary Lou pointed out. "And you can't tell me there's not something he needs from Steph, too. There has to be a reason he's holding back."

Tank thought about that for a minute, and then it hit him. "He needs her to stand up to him."

"Seriously?" Mary Lou seemed intent on arguing that point. "She's been a rebel from the word go. She always does what she wants, even when he tells her not to. She constantly argues with anyone who tries to control her. How much more backbone does he need?"

That was all true to a point. "She stands up for what she wants to do, usually because she wants to act on someone else's interest. When he pushes her about what she wants, she runs. She backs down and hides instead of standing up for herself. Ranger's got a lot of pride. Watching her go back to the cop so many times has forced him to think it's because she doesn't want what he could offer. For him to believe things might be different, she's going to have to stand up to him and talk about something related to emotions."

"That's kind of like the pot calling the kettle black, isn't it?" she rightly questioned.

"Yeah, but she's going to have to do it first." Tank was convinced that was true. Ranger would more than meet her halfway, but this first step was going to have to come from Stephanie.

Mary Lou put her pizza down and held her thumb in front of her lips. "How can we get Ranger to see she's serious about him and get her to see that the stuff he's been doing for years is really proof of how he feels about her?"

"It would take an army to pull off something like that," he pointed out, somehow causing her eyes to sparkle.

"You were in the Army, weren't you?" she suggested, leaning forward and lightly tapping her palm on the table. "And most of the other guys at RangeMan were too, right?"

"Yeah, or some other branch of the forces," he agreed, slightly nervous about how excited she was getting.

"Do you trust them?"

He gave the most honest answer he could. "With my life."

"Then we have some work to do," she declared.

"Exactly what are we planning on doing?" He hoped he didn't regret asking.

"Have you ever seen The Wizard of Oz?"

Apparently, she struggled to stay on topic, much like Stephanie did. Tank knew it was usually best to just let these tangents work themselves out, so he agreed that he had, although he couldn't remember much of it.

"We're going to send them on a journey together, and then we're going to pull back the curtain so they see the truth behind everything they learn."

Tank wasn't sure he wanted to ship Ranger off somewhere. That was more the boss's style than his.

As if sensing his confusion about her meaning, she explained, "When we finish here, I'm going to her parents' house to get them on board. Then I'm going to call Connie and Lula and have them play a part too. I have a feeling that once we set this ball in motion, everyone will want to help."

Tank wasn't sure how Ranger would feel about a whole group of people being involved in his personal life. A voice in the back of his mind told him that if it worked and Ranger and Stephanie got together, then it might not matter, but if this blew up, then he'd be even more difficult to be around. Getting sent to the frozen tundra might not be so bad compared to what Tank might have to endure in New Jersey.

They spent the next hour planning exactly what needed to happen and who they'd need to help. It was a bigger list than Tank wanted, but at least on the RangeMan end, it was the group he most trusted to keep it to themselves. It may have been that when men were desperate, they tended to grasp at anything for a solution, but he figured this was a lot more likely to work than doing nothing.

And since it was fall, there was no harm in pulling his winter clothes out of the back of the closet. It wasn't a bad idea to know exactly where his heavy coat was just in case there was time to grab it before he was dropped in a crate.

_A/N: More shameless plugging for my original work:_ A-Killer-Cup-Joe-ebook/dp/B00FITL3KO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1380883669&sr=8-1&keywords=a+killer+cup+of+joe


	2. Laying Out a Plan

_None of the characters below are mine. Darn JE and her ability to create a universe so appealing I can't help to use it. _

_Jenny (JenRar), thank you for your help as the beta on this story. _

**Chapter 2 – Laying out a Plan**

"Mary Lou, what a pleasant surprise," Mrs. Plum cooed from the front door. She stepped aside so that her youngest daughter's best friend could come in.

"I'm sorry to barge in without calling first, but I had something I needed to discuss with you, and since time is of the essence, I came right over," she explained, stepping aside so Mrs. Plum could shut the door.

"It's no problem at all," Mrs. Plum assured her. "Let's go into the kitchen, and I'll get us both a cup of coffee so you can tell me what's going on."

Mary Lou took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. She was a grown woman, but being called into Mrs. Plum's kitchen was a lot like having the principal call you into their office. You knew you were technically safe, yet you still feared for your life.

"Cream and sugar?" Mrs. Plum was the perfect hostess, producing an Entenmann's coffee cake seemingly from nowhere.

After the formalities were squared away, Mrs. Plum sat down across the bar and asked, "What has Stephanie done now?"

Mary Lou took a breath, never really understanding why Mrs. Plum seemed to only see the worst in her daughter, when everyone else saw the wonderful woman Stephanie was. "Actually, she hasn't done anything, but I am here because I'm worried about her."

"So am I," Mrs. Plum quickly agreed, cutting them both a slice of cake. "She's not getting any younger, and she and Joseph seem to be spending even less time together. How they'll get married at this rate, I'll never know."

"Have you considered that they don't want to get married?" Mary Lou owed it to her friend to make this point.

Mrs. Plum crossed herself and looked up, as though waiting for God to confirm this as possible. "They're not going to live in sin. At some point, you have to have a wedding so you don't risk any children being born out of wedlock and the neighbors talking about them."

Conversations like this one made Mary Lou admire her friend even more. How she could have turned out so well adjusted after growing up with this woman was a mystery. "She and Joe broke up and are only going to be friends now. But I didn't come to talk about Joe."

"Then who are we going to talk about?"

Mary Lou had clearly confused the older woman. Why else would two women from the 'Burg get together, if they weren't going to gossip about others?

"Ranger."

Another sign of the cross and a second slice of cake seemed to give Mrs. Plum the courage to ask. "Are you saying Stephanie is dating that man?"

"He goes by Ranger," Mary Lou corrected, wishing she knew more about him to fill in the details. "No, they aren't dating, but those of us who are close to them all think they should be."

"I've learned that Stephanie doesn't usually do the things other people think she should."

"In this case, I think it's what she wants too, but those two need a little help in getting there," Mary Lou explained.

"Is that why you're here, because you need my help to get her there?"

She nodded that it was, and then while they finished the rest of the coffee cake, she proceeded to replay the conversation she'd had at Pino's with Tank.

With a promise that she would help in whatever way she could, Mrs. Plum walked her to the door. Just before she opened it, she turned and looked her guest in the eye. "Can you promise me this Ranger person will take care of my daughter and not just toss her aside like some kind of plaything?"

"I've seen the way he looks at her, and I think he'd rather shoot himself in the foot than think he'd hurt Stephanie in any way. If I wasn't absolutely convinced they needed each other, I wouldn't be going through all this trouble."

Seeming satisfied with her answer, Mrs. Plum opened the door and waved goodbye as Mary Lou walked to her minivan.

As she drove home, she picked up her cell phone and called Tank.

"Yo."

Thankfully, Stephanie had warned her about RangeMan phone manners.

"Tank, it's Mary Lou," she began, figuring he probably already knew that. Stephanie said they had strange abilities to know everything. "I just spoke to Mrs. Plum, and she's promised to help us. I'll reach out to Connie and Lula after you talk to the guys to be sure we have our little army ready to spring into action."

"I'll brief them at 1800 hours and return your call then," he replied, causing her to raise her hands in front of her to quickly tick off the math to convert that to six o'clock.

A click sounded before she had the right answer, and Mary Lou found herself glaring at the phone, wondering how Stephanie managed to handle being hung up on. Clearly these men hadn't been raised in the 'Burg.

Tank had been convinced that this was the right thing to do since lunch at Pino's, but as he sat in his apartment with Santos, Brown, Hector, and Cal, he wondered if he needed to see a shrink. He knew RangeMan benefits would cover it, and since he'd volunteered to talk to his co-workers about their boss's love life, he was clearly crazy enough to be certified.

"All right, big guy. Lay it on us," Santos said, breaking the silence and forcing Tank's hand.

"I had a conversation with Stephanie's friend Mary Lou today," he began, figuring the facts would be easier than the touchy feely stuff.

All the men looked at him as though he'd announced he was planning on having Ella start serving high tea in the afternoon in the break room. Obviously, this was going to require laying it all out there. "I guess Stephanie is beginning to channel her inner Ranger and is getting more difficult to be around by the day."

"Is she in danger?" Santos was quick to ask. He was probably the most likely to make a joke in their group, but when it came to the safety of women, he was unequaled in the lengths he'd go to. He might be a love 'em and leave 'em kind of player, but he did have a kind of code that he lived by when it came to taking care of women in general.

"No, but it seems the boss man said a few things in the past that has her thinking she's just entertainment around here and she isn't somebody he can have a relationship with."

"That's bullshit," Brown summed up quickly. "They're in a relationship; at least, that's how they act."

"If that's true, then they're having an argument, because neither one of them thinks it's possible and it's making them hell to be around." Tank was getting itchy from all the talking, and he wasn't even to the hard part yet.

"If they can't figure out something that obvious, then what are we supposed to do about it?" Cal spoke up.

"Why do you think they're together?" Tank threw it out there, hoping they'd do the talking so he wouldn't have to.

"He bleeds for her," Hector answered first.

"Money, cars, men…" Lester jumped in.

"…Chest, arm, leg," Brown added, running with the more literal interpretation. "She's got full access to anything she needs here. What more does she need to see that the guy would give her the world if she asked for it?"

"She don't want the world," Tank pointed out, defending her.

"That's why we like her," Santos agreed. "She could take advantage of Ranger, but she doesn't. If anything, he has to force her to accept his help."

Cal spoke aloud what they'd all wondered at one point or another. "Why is that?"

Tank cleared his throat twice before attempting to explain it the way Mary Lou had. "At some point, he told her a he wasn't relationship material and that he could offer her endless nights of condoms, but never a ring. According to her friend, Stephanie don't want a ring, really, but she's not going to just sleep with somebody and then have him give her lots of expensive shit. If she did that, then she'd be…well…"

"A whore." Hector clearly saw exactly what Mary Lou was saying. "Estephania is no puta."

"Why would he say something like that?" Cal seemed to be full of questions tonight.

"You expect him to say how he really feels when he doesn't know when Uncle Sam is going to call him for a mission that may end in a letter and a flag being delivered to his widow?" Tank didn't necessarily approve of how Ranger had misled Stephanie about his feelings, but he got the need to protect her from the pain of losing him. "And while he was finishing his contract, he had to watch her go back to the cop time after time."

"Why did she keep going back to Morelli?" Cal blurted out once more.

"Do you have some kind of question-only Tourette's?" Brown seemed equally amused and irritated at Cal's lack of input beyond questions.

"She went back to Morelli because the cop kept asking her to. And even if she didn't really want him, she didn't want to be alone, either." Tank hated trying to explain women, because down deep, he knew he had no idea what he was talking about.

"Then how do we know she isn't going to bounce back this time, too?" Santos seemed to have caught Cal's condition.

"Her friend says it's for good and seemed to have all kinds of reasons for why it's gonna stick this time. Plus, she seems different somehow lately." Tank hoped they'd trust him on this one, because he knew he'd never explain it the way Mary Lou had.

Hector cut through to the heart of why they were discussing this. "Why tell us?"

"I think Ranger will take a chance if Stephanie makes it clear she is done with Morelli and isn't just rebounding to Ranger, but that she really wants him. Mary Lou seems to have a few ideas about how to make that happen." Tank could only hope she was right about that.

"That's good." Santos seemed to get what he meant. "I mean, if she laid it out there first, then he'd jump in, but he's seen this pattern too many times to believe it's different unless she explains it to him."

Brown pointed out what could be the fatal flaw in their plan. "Yeah, but Stephanie hates talking about her feelings more than most of us do."

"Mary Lou seems to think she has this covered, so I'm going to trust that she can do it." Tank had to believe their history would keep Mary Lou from promising something if it wasn't possible. "But in the meantime, we have to find a way to help Stephanie understand the importance of what Ranger's been offering her. She thinks he has intentionally kept her from his private life, only wants to buy her attention, and that we all laugh at her failed apprehensions."

"You know, it might be easier to just knock them both out and lock them in the deep freeze in Ella's kitchen," Brown said, pointing out the very thing that had crossed Tank's mind.

"Let's call that Plan B," he agreed. "In the meantime, how do we let her know what's right in front of her?"

"Why can't we just tell her?" Santos asked, trying to take the simplest route.

Cal seemed to come to life with that question. "Tell her what? Ranger lied to you. He's really crazy about you and would sink his whole fortune if it meant keeping you safe and happy? Don't listen to him. Listen to us instead."

"When you put it like that, it sounds stupid," Santos had to agree.

"What about a distraction?" Hector suggested, confusing everyone. "Give her a reason to help Ranger by spending time with some of us, and we can tell her things she may not know."

"You're going to tell the boss's secrets?" Cal didn't seem to catch on.

"No." Santos was grinning. "None of us have a death wish, but we can share our own secrets and then explain what Ranger did for us. Maybe she'll see that how he's handling her is a lot like he handled each of us at one point."

"The boss don't look at us like he looks at Bomber," Cal reminded them.

"For which I'm truly thankful." Brown seemed repulsed by the idea of Ranger taking him in the alley behind the bonds office.

"But how do you explain that without making her think she's not a whore, but she's also not just one of the guys?"

Cal was right. There was a fine line here, and they weren't exactly known for their ability to finesse a situation subtly.

"El primero de octubre," Hector blurted out, making Santos and Brown both slam down their blank faces.

"No way in hell," Santos quickly disagreed. "Brown and I will do what we always do on the first of October."

"That's right." Brown seemed as emphatic as Santos. "Shots until we pass out, while somebody stays at the door to keep us in the apartment and double checks that our sorry asses don't die of alcohol poisoning."

"She could stay with you while you drink," Hector suggested.

"Fuck you, man." Santos wasn't warming up to this plan. "You want us to get sloppy drunk and tell her all our shit. What are you going to do?"

"Take her to Angelo's grave," Hector sucked the air out of the room by suggesting, "I'll do it sober."

"I could take her to the lake house," Cal volunteered, once more coming up with something that wasn't a question.

"This is going to hurt." Brown had apparently softened slightly from his original refusal.

"You think getting shot to save you two didn't come at a cost to Ranger?" Tank knew he was using guilt with the men, which could easily come back and bite him in the ass, but he needed to let them see what this meant. "You think he takes our families as his own because he doesn't have any?"

He gave that a minute to settle before nailing it home. "You think he stays in this building because he can't afford a real home? Telling some of our shit to Stephanie will hurt, and it will come at a cost to our pride, but damn it, when have you ever seen Ranger hesitate to do something for us so that he could protect himself first?"

"He doesn't need to hesitate. The man is invincible," Lester argued weakly.

"For somebody who's invincible, he's spending more and more time in the gym every morning, trying to beat the shit out of something. Everybody's got a soft spot, and I think it's time we help him admit that Stephanie is his."

"You want to give a warrior an Achilles heel?" Brown wondered.

"No, I want to show him what happens when she's by his side so he isn't constantly looking backwards to be sure she's okay, "Tank explained.

"Can you imagine what they'd be like with her doing the digging and him planning the takedowns?" Santos asked. "Their combined instincts?"

"Trenton ain't ready for that," Brown said with a smirk, but it was apparent he could picture it.

"She'd be around all the time," Les spoke up with a schoolboy grin. "Ranger's a lot easier to get along with when Stephanie's in the office."

"You're going to have to set up the first," Brown spoke up. "You'll have to come up with a reason to get her in my apartment, ready to watch us get shitfaced. It's one thing to talk when you're half out of it, but there ain't no way I can tell her ahead of time."

Tank looked around his apartment and realized he should have corrected Mary Lou at lunch when she called these guys friends. He'd spent eighteen years surrounded by blood relatives, but he'd never felt the love of family more than he did from his brothers right at that moment.

_A/N: I know I promised I wouldn't keep mentioning A Killer Cup of Joe, but I had to thank all of you who purchased the book over the weekend and reached out to me about your thoughts. Your reviews on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Goodreads have meant the world to me, and might even give me the courage to work today without hiding under my desk. Thank you!_


	3. Watch Out Cupid!

_None of the characters are mine…they all belong to JE._

_Jenny (JenRar) you deserve more than a simple thank you for your work as the beta on this story. _

**Chapter 3 – Watch out Cupid!**

Ranger wasn't a fool. His men might think they were being covert, but nothing happened in his building without him knowing about it. Tank had pulled some of the guys into his apartment last night, and they'd stayed there until nearly midnight. When they came out, no one seemed drunk, and there was a lack of cigar smoke when Ranger walked through the hall. It wasn't a group of the guys blowing off steam or hanging out... They were planning something. Ranger had to assume by their lack of acknowledging their meeting that it was something they intended to keep from him.

It wasn't near a holiday. His birthday wasn't close. There was no logical reason for them to have secrets. When Ranger went down to the electronics room, he couldn't help but notice Hector had been monitoring Stephanie's trackers. Well, he noticed it after typing in the password and browsing the history of tracker coordinates accessed that morning. His last intel told him Stephanie didn't have any stalkers and wasn't generating any buzz of note. There was no reason for this kind of targeted attention from RangeMan.

He wondered if Stephanie had reached out for help. If that were the case, then why would she call his men and not him directly? Ranger looked up the last monitored location and saw she was still at home. It was late, even by her standards, to still be in her apartment. He told himself that going over there was the responsible thing to do in case she was sick or injured. But when he noticed Cal's truck was missing from the garage, he was also hell bent on finding out if one of his men was with her and that was why she hadn't left for the day yet.

When he pulled into Stephanie's parking lot, he was instantly relieved at the lack of other RangeMan vehicles. At least he didn't have to worry about holding himself back to keep from hurting one of his own men. He knew it was wrong, but it was hard enough to think that he had to compete with the cop. Morelli was easier to dismiss, because Ranger knew he wasn't right for Stephanie. But if he was honest about it, there were several men at RangeMan that Ranger believed would be perfect for her. They could keep her safe and offer her the life she deserved with a chance to be happy and accepted by her family and the 'Burg.

Now that he was here, Ranger wasn't sure what he wanted to do next. He'd satisfied his curiosity that she was alone. Down deep, he knew his excuse that he was worried about her being unwell was flimsy and definitely not something he'd admit to her face. Ranger shifted lower in his seat, taking his surveillance position.

How many hours had he spent like this? Sitting in her parking lot like some kind of groupie holding a vigil. As pathetic as it sounded, it was still better than being a pervert that snuck into her bedroom just to watch her sleep. Vinnie regularly bailed out skips for doing less. Just because he knew he wasn't there to hurt her didn't make the violation of her privacy any better. If he had any fucking clue how to stop, he would.

Drawing a long, slow breath, he tried to release some of the tension that was building up with those thoughts. She and the cop had been split up for a month. When he came back from his last mission—his last mission ever—she'd told him that she and Joe were done and had tried to raise her eyebrow at him. It was adorable, and he couldn't stop from laughing. Turns out that was the wrong response, because she'd gotten pissed that he appeared to find her private life funny and stormed away.

If he were a man who apologized, he would have stopped her and explained that after spending a couple of months literally running for his life in the jungle, it was such a relief to be around someone who brought him joy that he couldn't stop himself from being happy. And since he'd had no happiness to speak of in a long time, he didn't want to hold his emotions back. It just proved to him that even if she complained about it, she'd rather have his blank face than his actual feelings in the open.

In the past, she would have pouted for a day or two, and the next time they saw each other, she would have forgotten about it and moved on. But something was different this time. When he saw her after his laughing fit, he said her name and was very careful to keep his blank face in place. She'd simply repeated his name, and that was the end of the conversation. He'd never had to work at getting her attention before, so Ranger assumed something else was going on in her life, and if she wanted him to know, she would have told him about it. In the meantime, he backed off, trying to respect her privacy and not push her so much that she slipped away.

The problem was, a month was longer than she and the cop had ever gone without reconciling, so he felt like a man living on borrowed time. Any day now, he expected to hear that she'd spent the night with Morelli, and he would know that once again, she'd slipped through his fingers. Ranger knew that at some point, her 'Burg upbringing would be too strong to resist and she would decide that marriage and a house near her folks would be something she wanted. He couldn't give that to her, so it seemed wrong to apply pressure for her to accept something less than what her ideal would be.

He knew she wanted him—hell, animals within a five-mile radius could feel the magnetism between the two of them when they were around each other. But he also respected that she had a guilt complex when it came to him poaching when she was with the cop. As long as they weren't together, she allowed his attention, but she'd cut him off once Morelli made his move again. He'd accepted the cycle of her attention a few years back and was content to have her as he could, on her terms. But this time, there had been something different, and he hadn't been able to be near her while she was single. Knowing his opportunity was about to be over was pissing him off.

It was too bad Morelli was a good cop. If Ranger made him disappear, somebody would insist on looking for him. He wasn't worried about getting caught, but he hated the idea of Stephanie being in a media circus while people tried to get information on why the 'Burg's golden boy had vanished.

Time was running out, and he was stalking her by sitting in her parking lot in broad daylight. If he was lucky, whatever had Tank out of the office would keep him from pulling up Ranger's tracker and seeing where he was. Shaking his head, he sat up and forced himself to start the car and head back to Haywood. He'd seen the requisition form for new punching bags for the gym. Hopefully, Bobby had installed them, because the last three were already losing their filling. He flexed his fist while waiting for the light to turn green. He knew the company medic would yell at him for not taping his hands, but he like the way it felt without gloves. Pushing through the physical pain took all his concentration and would keep him from wondering if his last chance to be with Stephanie was today…

…And he was driving away.

He was in her parking lot. "Damn him!" she yelled out, banging her fist into her pillow. For twenty-nine days, she'd waited, wondering why he seemed to be further away from her every time they ran into each other. She'd told him that she and Joe were over—completely over, never to reunite—and he'd laughed in her face. She could have taken him asking what made her so certain. She'd practiced her answers to be sure she could explain it. But instead of giving her the chance to lay it out there, he hadn't believed her and had laughed.

Stephanie had been laughed at her whole life, so the feeling wasn't new. But this was Ranger, the one person who had always supported her, and knowing that he didn't believe her this time had hurt. The next time they ran into each other, he'd given her his typical "Babe" and then said nothing else. She'd decided that two could play at that game and responded, "Ranger." Since neither of them was willing to budge, their exchange didn't move beyond that. Unfortunately, it was the longest conversation they'd had in three weeks.

Now he was in her parking lot, just sitting there in his infernal zone. He had a luxurious apartment and a plush office, but he couldn't sit in either of those to do his silent thinking. No, he had to come over to her apartment and cause her neck to tingle in that way that meant he was nearby. Was he thinking of her and wishing she'd come down to him, or was he trying to figure out how to tell her goodbye?

She wondered what he would do if she marched down to the parking lot, yanked his car door open, and planted a kiss right on his perfectly shaped lips? Would he kiss her back and run his tongue across her bottom lip to get her to open to him? Arrogant man knew he could ask anything of her and she'd do it as long as he was touching her, especially with his lips.

Thinking about Ranger's lips and tongue was not a good idea while she was sprawled out in bed. Before her hands could talk her into doing something she'd regret, she jumped up and went into the bathroom. She banged on the wall with her fists. The bathroom was no better. She'd gone through a showerhead already because of Ranger entering her thoughts while she was trying to get clean.

There was nowhere she could go that wasn't full of his memory. Her couch was the scene of multiple make-out sessions and was right in front of the place where he fell when Scrog shot him. That was his exact location when she realized she loved him. Her kitchen was marred with images of him pressing her against the wall or attempting to change her eating habits by feeding her unnaturally healthy food. The bathroom was probably filled more with her own imagination than his actions, but the bedroom…those nights where he came to her and didn't bother to hide it. Ranger in broad daylight was a sexy sight. Ranger coming to her at night, with the sole purpose of making love to her, was enough to…oh man…damn it, now she was going to have to shower, because she couldn't function in this state for much longer. At least, not without doughnuts.

Why did she have to sacrifice her waistline because her mind was consumed with thoughts of a naked Ranger? He was literally sitting in her freaking parking lot. If he didn't have the balls to get out of his car and walk up a flight of stairs, then she would have to take control. With that decided, she quickly brushed her teeth. Then she ran her fingers through her hair, but realized it wasn't doing much to tame the beast on her head. Maybe the smell of mint would keep him distracted from the wildness of her curls at the moment. She slipped her feet into her boots and decided to forgo lacing them up to keep from taking any more precious moments.

Since she'd decided to go after Ranger, she didn't want to waste any more time. She carefully shut her apartment door and then moved to the elevator. One step away from the call button, she tripped over her own laces and fell face first on the rough hallway. Why did these kinds of things always seem to happen to her? She wasn't a bad person, she wasn't an idiot, but she was apparently incapable of walking twenty feet without falling and scraping the skin off her chin.

She touched the place that burned and looked at her fingers, not surprised to see blood. Great. Wild hair and scarred face. "You're such a catch, Plum," she spoke aloud to herself. Sadly, she knew that Ranger had seen her looking much worse. If she hadn't scared him away yet, she doubted he would run because of a little blood.

Deciding she was determined to see this through, she got up and brushed herself off. Luckily, she'd been wearing sweatpants and a long-sleeved T-shirt. It wasn't one of her more attractive outfits, but it had kept her from losing skin anywhere else.

She moved carefully to press the elevator button and was greeted by Mrs. Bestler.

"Where to dearie?"

"First floor, please." Stephanie had long ago learned that it just went smoother to play along.

"All right." The elderly woman pressed the correct number and then announced, "Ladies dresses and first aid, coming right up."

"Thank you, Mrs. Bestler," Stephanie called out as she carefully stepped out of the elevator, ensuring her boot laces didn't get caught in the door, causing her to be yanked into the air when the car moved back up to the second floor. "That'd be just my luck," she thought mostly to herself.

Still moving slowly from the combination of attempted grace and soreness from her recent tumble, Stephanie looked up and blinked as the sun hit her eyes when she stepped outside. How late was it? How much time had she wasted, sitting in her apartment and thinking about the man of mystery?

Once her eyes focused, she looked at the front space, where all the guys from RangeMan seemed to be able to park at will. The spot was open, which seemed odd. A quick look near the dumpster showed her current piece of shit car. She was definitely in the right parking lot. Then she heard the unmistakable hum of a Porsche Turbo and looked up just in time to see the sleek black car pulling out of the lot and heading north. She'd come down determined to confront him and lay it all out for him, and he'd driven away.

Rationally, she knew he was probably already moving before she came downstairs, but it still felt as though she'd needed him, and for the first time ever, he wasn't there.

She had no reason to stay out in the blaring sun. The birds were singing such a happy tune that it made her reconsider her stance on carrying a gun with her at all times.

Mrs. Bestler didn't ask when Stephanie stepped in the elevator. She just hit the number two to get her where she needed to be. "Here you go, dearie," the older woman announced in a chipper voice. "Darkened hallways and places to hide."

Great, now the slightly senile woman was getting a sense of humor.

Stephanie shuffled to her door and then realized a major flaw in her plan: she'd forgotten to pick up her keys in her haste to get out, and now she was locked out of her apartment. She banged her fist on the door. Why, she didn't know. It wasn't like Rex could let her in. The last time she was locked out, she'd called Ranger for help. Based on the fact that his sports car was moving in the opposite direction, she didn't think he'd appreciate being called back just to bail her out of trouble one more time. If he couldn't find the will to say hello, something told her he didn't want to be bothered to use his lock-picking skills on her behalf either.

Maybe she could walk to her parents' house and have her dad bring her back in his cab. He had a spare key to her apartment and wouldn't mind having a valid excuse to get away from Grandma Mazur. With that decided, she stood straighter, determined to keep moving forward to the one man that hadn't let her down yet. She had little expectations of her father, so she couldn't really say he'd failed to meet them. Stephanie knew better than to think he'd stand up to her mother, but if she needed a ride somewhere, he'd never told her no, regardless of how late it had been or how far he'd had to drive.

She walked down four steps, trying to give herself a pep talk that just because Ranger had left, it didn't mean all her friends and family had. She needed to quit thinking about romance and concentrate on the things that were going right. Most likely, her mother would feed her, Grandma Mazur would have a funny story of some sort, and her dad would rescue her from her current predicament. Nothing that had happened so far today was bad enough that she could justify moping about it all afternoon.

With that decided, she attempted to put a little more spring in her step and promptly tripped again over her untied shoelaces, falling down the final three steps and sprawling out on the landing at the bottom of the stairs.

Briefly, she saw stars, and something in that was funny, because it made her think of the sandman who was only supposed to come to people at night. As long as she was dwelling on mythical beings, her mind went to Cupid. He seemed like a valid person to blame for her current position. It was his fault she'd gotten the harebrained idea to rush into the parking lot and confront a man who clearly didn't want to speak to her. It was Cupid's fault she'd rushed through pulling herself together and spent more time brushing her teeth than putting on safe footwear.

If she ever hit her head hard enough to see that winged bastard with the love arrows, she was going to rip the bow out of his hand and threaten to shove it up his ass.

Love hurt, and it was high time somebody taught him that lesson!


	4. Angelos

_The characters below are from JE's imagination, not mine._

_Jenny (JenRar) your corrections and proofing skills are invaluable on this story. But your encouragement and comments as you read through each update are worth even more. _

**Chapter 4 - Angelos**

Hector knew he owed Ranger, and he'd always wished he had a way to show his appreciation for all the man had given to him when he needed it most. It was that idea that had him gripping the steering wheel and driving to Stephanie's apartment to try to convince a woman that knew very little about him to get in the car and go to a side of town she should never visit unescorted, all so that he could bear his soul in front of her.

When the guys were trying to come up with ways to show that when Ranger let you in, it was never with words, but with actions, this seemed like the best example he could offer. Now that it was time to step up and do it, he found himself wishing there was another way. Maybe a well-worded letter would do the trick and he could just include a picture of the grave. He could tell the guys he did it that way to keep from taking her into a dangerous situation.

It was late enough in the day that she might not be home anyway. He would go upstairs and knock softly. If she didn't answer within a few seconds, he would go with the letter idea instead. This way, it was up to fate to decide what he had to do and it wouldn't be that he'd lost the courage.

A couple came out of the building, staring over their shoulders as though something had frightened them and they were desperate to get away from it. Stephanie's car was parked near the dumpster, so she was most likely home. If there was a threat in her building, Hector knew he would never be able to live with himself if he didn't check to be sure she was safe.

Carefully, he scanned the area before moving silently to the building. Upon opening the outside door, he heard mumbling, which sounded suspiciously like Stephanie. As he grew closer, he realized she was talking to herself and threatening the little love man with an injury no bow should ever be used to inflict. She was lying on her back, in frumpy clothes, a far cry from the usual pulled-together look she carried herself with. Her hair was everywhere, reminding him of a lion's mane in the wild. Her chin was bleeding, and one of her boots was lying on the landing beside her foot, as though she'd tripped down the stairs and lost it in the fall.

It was a difficult decision whether she would appreciate privacy at this moment, as she was clearly not at her best. But when he noticed a tear falling down her cheek, there was nothing else he could do.

"Estephania," he called out softly. She knew just enough about Hector to know he spoke English, a secret he didn't allow many others to know, but he still preferred the Spanish version of her name.

She hiccupped and pulled her arm from her eyes to see him for the first time. "Hector?"

He moved to kneel next to her and lightly touched her chin beside a scrape it appeared she had recently gotten. "You okay?"

"Would you believe me if I said yes?" she asked, pulling herself to a seated position.

Hector supported her back as she sat on the hard floor, not answering her question. "Did someone do this to you?" If she'd been pushed down the stairs and left alone, he would be forced to delay his task for the day in order to complete the more important quest of avenging her injuries. No one hurt the boss's woman without paying for it.

Her curls brushed his arm when she shook her head. "I tripped down the stairs and fell."

"Come," he commanded, knowing they needed to clean that scrape.

"Can't."'

She wasn't attempting to get up, which had him on alert that her injuries were a lot worse than he could see. Perhaps he should have insisted she stay lying down in case her neck or back had been hurt in the fall. Before he could shift and get to his cell phone to call Bobby for backup, she explained.

"I was having a typical _me_ moment and rushed out of the apartment without grabbing my keys."

"What was your hurry?" He wondered if something had frightened her, which would still provide him the opportunity to be helpful in a way that he'd find easier than talking about his past.

"I wanted to see Ranger."

It took some restraint to keep from smiling when she admitted that. She was a proud woman, and he knew she wouldn't appreciate that response to her honesty, but she was virtually pouting like a child who had been denied dessert. Of course, Hector had seen the way she looked at Ranger, and comparing him to her favorite dessert probably wasn't that far off the mark.

"Do you want me to take you to him?" Hector would have gladly driven her to the boss. It might eliminate the need for the men to open up with her, if he could just force them to be together.

"Not much point in that." She seemed even more sad now than when he'd found her lying on the floor. "He left just as I walked out." Then she added her commentary on what that meant. "He doesn't want to see me, and now I can't get home."

"I can help," Hector assured her, glad to finally have a way to be of assistance.

"Right," she agreed, allowing him to help her stand. "You guys can all do that lock magic."

"No magic," he assured her. "I could teach you."

She didn't seem to be listening to him, so he kept his arm around her and led her up the stairs to her apartment, making quick work of her nearly useless lock. Apparently, the only thing it could keep out of the apartment was her.

"What do you need?" he asked as they moved in the living room.

"I don't know," she sighed.

Silence grew between them, and he tried to determine if his hesitance to announce why he was really there was because it was the wrong time or because he just didn't want to do it. He never thought of Angelos without feeling as though his heart was being ripped out, and having to talk about it was only going to make it that much harder.

Once it got to the point of being more than he could stand, he decided to give her the option. "Would you like a distraction?"

"You mean something to take my mind off how pathetic my life is for a little while?"

"Si." He didn't like the way she was insulting herself, but didn't think him arguing that point would make a difference.

"Hmmm, let's see." She held out her left hand. "I can stay here and mope about how horrible my day is going"—then she held her right hand out—"or I can live in denial for a bit." She smiled at him and announced, "I think we both know denial land is my first choice."

"You change, and we will go," he commanded, stepping back to give her some space.

"What exactly are we doing?" she asked, able to shake off the despair that had been so thick around her just moments before.

He wasn't a big fan of pretending everything was okay when it clearly wasn't, but somehow, it seemed to work for her.

"I need to know what to wear," she prompted when he didn't respond.

Hector looked at his clothes and back to her. "Be comfortable, but in something you can move in."

"You're not going to make me run, are you?"

Her eyes darkened, and he had a feeling if he'd told her they were going running, she would have begun yelling at him and making those crazy hand gestures she tended to use when she was really angry. Hector was gay and had no interest in women, but there was something about anybody that could harness their anger and own it enough to let it out the way she did that he loved. Passion was a beautiful thing, regardless of gender.

"No running," he answered, calming her quickly. "I have something to do today, and I hoped you would come with me."

"You want me to be your backup?" She seemed doubtful.

"Si. It's not dangerous, and I can't take one of the guys." He knew he was going to have to get better at talking, or this afternoon was going to be a disaster. But standing in her apartment, he couldn't make himself force the words out.

Her eyes narrowed, and he wondered if she was about to yell at him. Finally, she relaxed and nodded. "You don't have to tell me." Her voice softened as she continued, "I guess if you can't take the guys, then it's more emotional than physical." He wasn't sure if that last part was for him or if her thoughts were once again slipping out, so he didn't respond.

"I'll be right back," she promised, moving into her bedroom to change.

Quickly—at least by her standard—she returned in a pair of jeans, a long-sleeved shirt rolled up a few turns at the cuffs, and a pair of well-worn running shoes. She was adorable in a girl-next-door kind of way. "Oh wait," she called out, dashing into the bathroom. When she came back out, her hair was pulled back behind her head and she was wearing a navy blue ball cap with the word "SEAL" embroidered on it.

"Boss has one like that," Hector commented.

"Not at the moment he doesn't." She blushed slightly as she admitted she was wearing Ranger's hat.

How Stephanie could be clueless about how the man felt for her was beyond Hector's understanding. Everyone in the company knew that hat meant a great deal to him. It was given to him by one of his brothers-in-arms as he was dying. Ranger never gave him the whole story, but he knew Ranger wore it when he needed to be reminded to be careful. The fact he shared something that held such meaning for him was telling.

"Do you know the story behind that hat?" Hector wondered.

"No," she admitted, too upbeat to be lying. "Ranger said a friend gave it to him. I figured he's probably got friends in all the branches of the military, so this one came from a guy in the Navy."

He shrugged hoping she wouldn't ask if he knew the significance, because he didn't think it was his place to tell the boss's pain. Today was to be about sharing his own, and he'd put it off long enough. "Come. We go now."

Twenty minutes later, he pulled the truck into an alley and turned to face Stephanie before putting his hand on hers. "Stay with me, and you will be fine. No matter what, don't take off running by yourself, and if anyone comes up while we're here, let me do the talking."

She looked around at the gang graffiti in the alley and nodded quickly. Hopefully, if there was any kind of trouble later, she would remember her promise.

She finally broke the silence to push for details. "What is this place?" It was probably a testament to how upset she'd been when he found her earlier that she'd managed the whole drive over without talking.

They stepped around the corner of the building, and he pointed to gravestones in an overgrown lot in front of them. "Cemetery."

He stretched his neck, attempting to hide the emotion that always overwhelmed him when he came here. Her soft fingers threading between his startled him, and he wondered if a little white girl had ever gotten the jump on him before. It was enough of a distraction to allow him to pull himself together and he squeezed her hand to thank her for the silent support.

They moved silently, stepping through the rusted gate and across the weeds to get to the simple marker on the forth row. "Angelos Cruz, Beloved." The stone that marked the grave was literally that—a rock he'd found in an abandoned lot. The words had been carved with a knife's edge, not engraved in marble as you'd no doubt see on the marble headstones in the 'Burg's cemeteries.

It hurt as freshly on this day as it had four years ago when he first placed this marker on the ground. Out of habit, he sat on the grass and pulled his switchblade out, running the tip over the letters. He hadn't intended to come here to grieve, but he found it impossible to do anything else.

Hector had no idea how long he sat there, the scraping of metal on rock the only sound he could hear. The car alarms, yelling, and random bass beats that passed by were easy to block out. A soft hand on his shoulder brought him back to the present.

"Who was Angelos?" she asked gently, not forcing him to answer, but apparently picking up on the fact that he needed to tell her something.

"My angel," Hector answered, a single drop spilling from his eye and running over the tattooed tears on his cheek. "We met six years ago, on the street. It's not easy to live here when everything is in your favor, but when you're different, it's ever harder."

A horn blasted in the background, followed by rapid yelling in Spanish. "It was after midnight, and I was on my way home. There was a man being beaten between two buildings, so I moved in closer to see if it was something that I needed to ignore or stop. They heard me approach and threw the man down, leaving him for dead."

Stephanie moved her hand gently across his shoulder and down his arm. It was a strange sensation to be touched like that—in a way that spoke of care and tenderness.

"I moved closer, wondering if he was still breathing, and just before I reached out to take his pulse, the most amazing eyes opened and looked right at me. They were blue, with little bits of gray in them." He drifted off and then seemed to realize his story wasn't over. "Not many Latinos have blue eyes, so they stood out against his dark skin."

"I'll bet they were gorgeous," she assured him, accurately describing the eyes that haunted Hector's dreams still.

"I asked if he needed help, and he shook his head, too proud to accept anything. Something told me I'd regret leaving him, so after confirming he hadn't been running drugs or gambling, I helped him stand, and we slowly made our way three blocks to my apartment.

"He'd called the cops when some kids broke into his store, so they'd waited for him to close up a week later and come back to show him what they thought of people who turned in their brothers. He was taller than I was, but because he wasn't known around here, his strength wasn't respected."

"But he was strong, wasn't he?" Stephanie asked after he got lost in his head once more.

"More than anyone who ever lived," Hector confidently replied. "He never made a sound while I cleaned his cuts and scrapes. After he told me what had happened, I tried to leave him in my apartment so that I could find the group that hurt him to teach them a lesson about respect." He paused and narrowed his eyes, like he could still see the scene in front of him. "Angelos wouldn't let me go. He said I was a free man, and tainting myself with blood, even if it was to defend the innocent, still left me with dirty hands and he refused to allow me to carry that burden."

Stephanie continued to move her hand across his back, making a pattern that held no shape, but left him feeling warm in the wake of her touch. It had been years since he'd felt a comfort like this.

"We stayed up talking through the night, and before long, the sun had risen and we had not run out of things to say. I knew when the sun came through the window and fell upon his face that I loved him. Technically a stranger, but he saw my soul and didn't pull away. I wanted to give him the world." He bore down harder with his knife, retracing the letters and no doubt dulling the blade.

"The next day, we went to his store together and I helped him clean the front that had been painted. I tried every argument I could think of to convince him to let me remind this gang they needed to leave him alone. I've always had a reputation on the street, and I knew if I delivered the message personally, it wouldn't be ignored."

"He wouldn't let you do it, would he?" she asked, obviously knowing the answer.

Hector shook his head. "In the end, we compromised and he agreed that perhaps having the store monitored by a security firm would be helpful, so I asked around and heard that RangeMan was the premier company and made a call to them.

"Ranger showed up the next day and took a walk through the store. He spent thirty minutes talking through the kinds of security they could offer. In the process, he dropped some details about some of the lesser-known gangs, and out of habit, I corrected him. If you want to talk the streets, you've got to get it right—at least, that's what I told myself. I was really showing off for Angelos that even though I might not look like much, I wasn't a fool.

"After the walkthrough, Ranger agreed to send over a proposal and then asked me to go outside with him. We spent nearly an hour leaning against the front of the store going over Stark at dark." Hector smiled at the phrase. It was what Lester called the street activity that took over after midnight on Stark. You had to be local and deep to understand it. Ranger had obviously known a lot, and Hector had heard of his reputation, but the fact this powerful man had been asking Hector for suggestions had made him feel respected for his knowledge instead of his blades. It was a subtle difference, but Hector had instantly picked up on it.

"For the next year, Ranger came by at least once a week, except for when he was out of the country—then he sent Santos. I had become an informant, and having the regular public presence of Ranger or his men at Angelos's store gave him extra security so that he didn't have another problem.

"Ranger offered me a job in his office, helping with pickups in my neighborhood, continuing the intel gathering I'd been doing gratis, and when he found out I had skills with electronics, he started to apply pressure."

"Yeah," she interrupted to agree. "Ranger's great at applying pressure when he wants something."

Hearing her speak reminded Hector that he was getting lost in his memories and the reason he was going through this was to help Ranger and his woman see the truth that was right in front of them.

"I turned him down every time because I didn't like the idea of being on call and working nights so that I couldn't help Angelos shut down the store and get home safely. Then it happened…" Hector stabbed his knife into the ground at his knee. The feeling of the earth giving way to his blade gave a hollow kind of satisfaction.

"My routine was well-known because I showed up every night at eleven and hung out until he closed an hour later. The West Kings group showed up ten minutes before I usually did and shattered his front windows before walking in and trashing the store. Angelos didn't defend himself. He wasn't much of a fighter anyway, but he refused to hurt someone else so he could survive. I ran in just in time to see them hold his arms so Jurez could stab him. When you live on the streets, you may not learn a lot from books, but you definitely know what a death cut is, and they made sure Angelos wouldn't survive."

He didn't realize he was crying until Stephanie's soft hands wiped the tears from his cheek. He was almost through the hard part, so he swallowed before picking up again.

"I don't remember much of what happened next. I know when RangeMan showed up, I had Angelos in my arms and I was covered in blood. Some was his, but most belonged to the bodies on the floor that I went through to make them pay for hurting my lover. 9-1-1 didn't respond too quick in to this neighborhood, so by the time the sirens were heard in the distance, he was already gone."

"Why would they kill him?" she asked, causing Hector to look at her for the first time since he began his story. There were tears on her face that matched his. He wondered what in particular had drawn out her sadness and then realized she was only the second person to cry over Angelos's death.

"He was too strong, and it was a threat to people who believed only violence could define strength." Hector shrugged, knowing there were no words that could justify what had been done. "Maybe it was because he looked different, or even because he was gay. I will never know why, because dead men don't tell their secrets."

Stephanie leaned over and put her head on his shoulder, wrapping her hands around his arm and holding tightly. It appeared as though she was seeking comfort, but he knew from the warmth in his chest that it was working the other way around.

"Ranger and Tank held me back when they took his body." He knew he had to finish so that all of this agony could perhaps serve a greater purpose. If this worked, Angelos would be pleased that his death provided life for someone else. "Then they took me home and kept me from leaving to avenge Angelos. Ranger kept telling me I couldn't do any more than I'd already done, or one day I'd have to face Angelos and look him in the eye to explain why I'd dishonored him.

"I didn't want to go on. I'd lived for twenty-five years basically alone and never felt lonely. Then two years with my blue-eyed angel, and I suddenly couldn't find a motivation to take a shower.

"A couple of days later he dragged me to Haywood and put me in an apartment on four, giving me another day to wallow. Then he marched in and said RangeMan had made arrangements to have Angelos buried in the cemetery near where his store was located, and if I wanted to be a part of honoring his life, I had exactly sixty minutes to get dressed in the suit he'd purchased for me.

"After the funeral, I came back here and just did everything Ranger told me to. After a month, I realized I had a full-time job, had been receiving a lot more money than I'd ever earned, and was contributing to an impressive company.

"I hated the idea of being some kind of charity case, so I went down to the gym and laid into Ranger. He let me yell at him and tell him all the ways I resented what he'd done, and then he climbed into the ring and held the ropes open. Not one to back down from a dare like that, I followed him in and attempted to take all the hatred I had for the West Kings out on Ranger. He took every blow and didn't try to attack me in return. After nearly an hour, he put me flat on my back with a single move I never saw coming. Pinning me to the mat with his forearm, he leaned into my face to say, 'You're one of us now. You'll never get pity, but anything that is mine to give is yours. Welcome to RangeMan, brother.' Then he got up and walked away. The next time I saw him, he had an official contract for me to sign to make my employment legal, and then he gave me a list of all the requirements of the job: getting trained physically and with weapons other than my knives, and working on my English.

"After Ranger went over everything, he walked out of the office and Tank came in. I asked Tank if Ranger was serious about this…letting a gangbanger in his company and paying this kind of money. Tank laughed and reminded me it wasn't just the money, that it was an apartment in the building, a vehicle that was mine to use all the time, and some formal training to round out what I already knew about electronics. 'Why?' was all I could ask.

"Tank shook his head and said, 'Ranger ain't big on explaining why, but you can see the truth in what he does. He's giving you a place in the RangeMan family because you're one of us. Whether or not you want it or deserve it doesn't matter, because Ranger only does what he wants to do, and right now, he wants you to be a part of this group of men. You just need to decide if you want to join us and accept what he's going to force you take.'"

"That sounds like Ranger," Stephanie commented, obviously familiar with Ranger forcing gifts on you, even if you didn't want them.

"You know him," Hector addressed Stephanie directly. "You know that he is fiercely protective of everything he has, so when he opens up his business or his home to you, then it is more than just a sign of generosity. It holds more meaning than that. He's giving you his family, and family is the most meaningful gift a man like Ranger can give."

She nodded, as though she agreed with every word, which was confusing to Hector. If she already understood this, then why was she not with Ranger right now?

"He's too generous for his own good," she spoke just loud enough for him to hear. "But then when he pulls it back, you're left even more alone than ever. Lonely even when you're surrounded by people."

That was something Hector could understand. He'd felt it acutely over the last few years. "But Ranger never takes it back." He wasn't sure how Stephanie had gotten confused over this part. "When he lets you in, you are there for life."

She didn't respond, and he recognized the look in her eyes as that of a person who was lost in their memories and hurt by what they saw there. Since he met Angelos, he'd never been able to see blue eyes fill with tears.

"You know me very little," he tried to explain once more. "But please hear me when I say when the boss gives you access to his company, to his men, and his home, he is giving you his heart. He won't give you pretty words, but he gives you himself. Which would you rather have?"

"I want him," she whispered so low that he had to lean closer to hear it over the radio someone was playing across the street. "But sometimes, we can't have what we want."

"Why can't you have it?" Hector challenged, not seeing why they couldn't be together.

"Because you can't make a heart want something it doesn't want," she spoke more firmly. "He may want me to be a part of RangeMan, but he's been pulling away from me for weeks."

"Is he pulling away, or have you stopped inviting him in?" Hector wondered what had happened between them.

"It doesn't matter now." She sat up and brushed the moisture off her face. "He never had a problem getting in when I locked him out before."

"A man like Ranger has pride," he reminded her.

"I do too," she answered, making a point that Hector couldn't argue.

He leaned down and kissed the rock with his lover's name on it, brushing the dust and dirt away.

Stephanie's hand entered his field of vision, and she set a small pebble down beside the rock before placing her hand on Angelos's name and saying, "It was wonderful to meet you. I'm sorry I didn't get the chance to talk to you myself before you had to go."

"Why did you do that?" Hector asked, pointing to the little stone.

"It's something my Grandma Mazur does whenever she visits Grandpa's grave. She said that in Hungry, they usually put a little rock beside a headstone to mark the visit as a way to show this person who died was loved and is loved still. When you go to Grandpa's cemetery, you can pick his plot out from a hundred yards away because it's got a big pile of little rocks around it.

Hector did a quick look around the overgrown cemetery and saw a large number of small stones he could move to mark Angelos's resting place each time he came for a visit. It was an active way to continue to show his devotion to the man he loved. "He would have liked meeting you too," Hector assured her.

"He has met me."

Confused, he couldn't figure out how to ask what she meant, so he waited for her to explain.

"He lives in you, and you and I are here together. You took care of me today and kept me from wallowing in my apartment because of the love you two had. If you hadn't met him, you never would have brought me here."

That was true. He'd probably be in prison by now if he hadn't met Angelos. He'd always lived by a certain code, but the rules were ones he set based on his ideas of right and wrong, not the laws that a judge would agree to. If Angelos hadn't insisted on Hector giving up some of his justice, then he was convinced there would be no one to come and visit this lonely grave.

They spent a little longer in the cemetery, and she helped him to pull some of the larger weeds before he took her home. After he hugged her goodbye at her apartment, he placed his palm over his heart and then cupped that same hand over her cheek. It was the exact way Angelos used to say goodbye to him. She smiled at the simple gesture, understanding it held great meaning, and Hector realized her eyes held flecks of gray he'd never noticed before. A small part of the tightness that had been in his chest for years relaxed, and he knew this woman would forever hold a special place in his life.

The ride back to Haywood was made on autopilot; he hardly remembered it. As soon as he arrived, he took the stairs quickly to Tank's office and walked straight in without bothering to knock.

"If he hurts her…if he turns her away after we've given her a reason to hope…I'll kill him."

"You want to soften your tone?" Tank suggested, never taking a threat to Ranger's life lightly.

Hector thought it through for a fraction of a second. "There will be a line of people after him. I'm just the one honest enough to warn you that this isn't your job to prevent."

Tank ran his hand over his hairless head and looked at his desk. "I hope interfering in his life doesn't come back to bite me in the ass."

Hector remembered how his day with Stephanie had begun and almost laughed at what she'd been threatening to do to Cupid. Tank was trying to play matchmaker for Stephanie, which meant he was the one most likely to be cast as the winged messenger of love. "I think a bite is the least of your ass's worries."


	5. Lula Applies Pressure

_All the characters below are from the creativity of JE, and my theft thereof._

_Jenny (JenRar) thank you for your hard work as the beta on this story. _

**Chapter 5 – Lula Applies Pressure**

"That white girl better give me two buckets of chicken for agreeing to do this shit," Lula spoke aloud, even though there was no one to hear her. "I'm gonna get the runs before this is all over."

Before her lower digestive tract could prove that to be true, the door opened and in walked the man she was suddenly dreading to see. He pulled off his mirrored sunglasses and marginally nodded in her direction. It was the kind of move she would usually fan herself over, but she was too nervous at the moment to consider how handsome the man she referred to as Batman really was.

Today, she was on a mission.

"You just the man I wanted to see," she began, glad her skills as an actress were still with her, even though she no longer used them the way she used to when she tried to convince men she loved all their moves.

He raised an eyebrow, doing some of that silent communication Stephanie seemed to hate so much.

"You still here, so that must mean it's okay for me to keep talking."

His mouth tightened a little on one side, and Lula chose to believe it was because he didn't want to smile and not because he was getting pissed already and was trying to keep from telling her.

"I'm worried about my girl." Lula tried to hold back so she didn't oversell it. There was nothing false in what she was saying—she'd been worried about Stephanie for a few weeks now—but talking about it to Ranger was something she would never have done if Mary Lou hadn't begged and then promised her free chicken every day for a week. If she got through this all right, she was going to tell Mary Lou it was going to take more than chicken, that she needed some of those little side dishes in the individual bowls to go with it too—and a few apple pies. After all this stress, she was going to need something to get her blood sugar back where it belonged.

"Lula," Ranger said, bringing her from the mental menu she'd been creating. That man was sexy just to look at, but hearing him say your name made a woman wonder what it would sound like if he were moaning it too. "You indicated you were worried about someone. Is a conversation about that likely to happen soon?"

"You got somewhere you need to be?" she challenged, knowing he did, but it was hard to hold back thirty years of ingrained attitude, especially when she was nervous.

His eyes narrowed marginally, and then he pressed his lips tighter. Lula developed a newfound respect for Stephanie. How she was able to talk at all around this man was a miracle, especially when he did shit like that to make you look at his lips. Making a decision, he moved to sit on the vinyl couch across from Connie's desk and motioned with his hand that she could proceed.

"You know me and Steph are tight, right?" She had a pimp once that told her to always approach a John by pointing out something they had in common, or by saying something they had to agree with. If you could get them to say yes to something, then getting them to say yes to paying you for sex was a lot easier. She'd hated handing over part of her money to Slick B, but he had taught her a lot about sales.

Ranger nodded, apparently too smart to verbally agree to anything until he had heard it all.

"She ain't acting right no more."

He put an arm over the back of the sofa, which made Lula think he was interested in what she was saying, since he was getting more comfortable.

"Look, you know her and Officer Hottie done called it quits, right?"

"Old news," he replied, somehow agreeing without saying it. Ranger was sharp. She was going to have to figure out how he managed to answer everything without saying much.

"This time was for good," Lula pressed on, interested in how Ranger crossed his arms over his chest.

Looked like Batman wasn't buying that, because according to those body language tips from Slick B, when a John covered himself up, he was closing off the conversation and wasn't interested in what you were selling. He used to tell her to back off a little when that happened, so she figured she'd try it this time, even though backing off wasn't really her style.

"I know we've all heard that before, but she's got her reasons for really meaning it this time."

Damn if that Slick B didn't know what he was talking about. Ranger uncrossed his arms and put one on the arm rest of the sofa.

"She's given me some of it, and I believe her."

"Then why are you worried about her?" he asked, finally using words, which told Lula he was more interested in this conversation than he'd admit.

"Because she should be happy—to have finally made a break with that man should mean she's out there going to clubs and picking up men."

Lula bit the inside of her cheek hard to keep from laughing when Ranger started flexing his fist. He probably didn't know he was doing it, but the idea of his woman getting picked up by a stranger in a bar wasn't sitting too well with Mr. Quiet.

"Anyway, the first week was okay; then the second week, she was a little quieter." Lula didn't have to pretend to be upset by this part. "Last week, she was snappy, like she usually only gets the second Wednesday of the month, but it's two weeks past that, so she can't use any monthly visitors as her excuse. And this week…I ain't seen her. Connie called her yesterday and told her there were some files for her, but she ain't picked them up yet."

"Maybe she's busy, and she'll be by soon." Ranger was trying to use logic, which was fine, but this was Stephanie they were talking about, and normal logic didn't apply to her.

"Rent's due at the end of the week, and since there weren't many skips last week, I doubt she's got it in her checking account," Lula pointed out, hoping Stephanie didn't stop asking her to ride along anymore if she found out Lula had shared her private business. Stephanie was proud, and even though Lula was doing it for her own good, she knew Steph would see it as a betrayal. "And she ain't taking my calls."

Admitting that part hurt. Lula knew Stephanie regularly screened her calls so she didn't have to listen to her mama yelling or get conned into doing a favor for somebody. But she always called Lula back, especially when Lula made it clear it was important.

"I left her a message last night—even said please—and I ain't heard a thing today." This was embarrassing. Steph wasn't the only one who was proud. She might have been a former 'ho, but she had her pride now, and getting worked up in front of Batman wasn't something she wanted to do. But she missed her friend, and after all the things Stephanie had done to literally save her life, she wanted to return the favor somehow.

"You been by her place?" he asked, leaning forward slightly.

"Stopped by after lunch and saw her car was there. I knocked on her door, but she didn't answer."

Ranger rubbed the back of his neck. That was how Tank used to show when he was stressed. She hated to be the bearer of bad news, but if there was one person that get through to Steph, it was Ranger, so even if it worried him, it was time he get off his fine, perfectly sculpted, and bitable ass and do something.

"Lula?"

"What?" She might have snapped a little, but she hated to be interrupted when she was daydreaming about biting something—especially something that juicy.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"You Batman, ain't you?" she challenged, hoping Mary Lou was right about this approach. She promised her that a man like Ranger needed to be challenged and made to feel like he was the only one that could meet a need. When Ranger didn't answer, she knew she'd have to press it further. "You can leave at the drop of a hat to save a third world country, but you can't take an hour outta your day to check on my girl?" She leaned across Connie's desk, feeling some of the papers touch her cleavage. That made her back up a little, because the idea of something that Vinnie had been handling touching her girlie bits was too gross for her to take.

"Seems to me that when you showed up in the middle of the night 'cause somebody said you killed a man, Stephanie didn't turn you out." As Lula spoke, she began to get irritated that she was even having to provide a speech like this. Ranger should be out there beating her door down to take care of her friend. "When your little girl got snatched, Stephanie didn't refuse to help. Hell, every time you got a need, you go to her, and she don't ever tell you no. She tells her mama no, she told Sexy Cop no, but you, she ain't never said no to."

"What I meant was—" Ranger leaned in, copying Lula's posture "—if she's upset about her and the cop splitting up, then what makes you think me showing up on her doorstep would be the right move? Maybe she wants Morelli to show up, not me."

"Have you lost yo' mind? You ain't heard nothing I done told you, have you?" She knew Ranger was the best of the best, but at the moment, he needed some serious help. "If the cop shows up on her doorstep right now, she's liable to shoot him."

That image made Ranger smirk. Lula assumed that meant Stephanie had never pulled her gun on him. "You the one people call when they need the impossible done. So, I'm telling you somebody needs to help that girl, and you the only one I think that can."

He sat in silence for long enough that it made Lula nervous. She knew Connie would be coming back from the jail soon after bailing out a repeat offender, so her time was running out to convince him to do something.

"Give her today. If she hasn't resurfaced, I'll swing by her place and see what I can do," he finally offered.

"Anything wrong with going today?" Lula knew she was probably pushing her luck, but a whole lot could happen between now and the next day.

He flashed a watch that probably cost more than her weave budget for five years. "I've got an appointment I can't miss."

Then he stood up and held out his hand. Lula was shocked that after she got on his ass, he was still willing to touch her, so she grinned and slipped her fingers across his palm, curious if he'd shake hands or lift hers up to kiss it like the leading man did in those sappy movies Connie liked to watch on her computer when Vinnie was out.

Her move only made him smile, which was enough to cause her to temporarily forget to breathe. Damn, that was a fine-looking man.

"Thank you," he said as though she'd spoken aloud. "Now, do you have my files?"

Slick B said to never let anybody get the upper hand with you, so instead of pretending to be embarrassed, she tightened her grip on Ranger, getting a look of surprise in return. That was fun—she'd shocked the man of mystery. "You not gonna forget to check on Steph, are you? You got lots of busy shit goin' on, so she may not be a priority."

The smile instantly fell from his face. "You have my word." Then he looked at their joined hands and added, "I have no greater priority."

With that, he leaned down, picked up the stack of folders on the side of the desk. Before he straightened up, he seemed to look around behind the desk chair where her purse was open and then turned and walked out, leaving Lula to fan herself with just the hand he had been holding.

"All right, white girl," Lula spoke to the room. "I'm sending him to you. It's up to you to keep him there."

Tank was trying to get the rotation right so he could post the schedule for the upcoming month, when his office door opened with an abrupt bang against the wall, revealing an imposing-looking Ranger. He'd learned a long time ago that Ranger would share what caused his outburst when he was good and ready, and trying to question information out of him was pointless. So, he set his pen down and leaned back in his chair, ready to wait it out.

Not long after, Ranger asked the last question Tank would have expected. "Why did you and Lula not make it?"

"She was pushing for a marriage I wasn't ready for, and she hated my cats," Tank answered honestly, figuring if he was going to interfere in Ranger's private life, he owed him a measure of self-disclosure from his own.

"That was two years ago," Ranger continued. "You ever think of giving her another chance?"

"Every weekend, I consider it," Tank confessed, glad his skin was too dark to show his embarrassment, "But I ain't letting the cats go."

"Seems to me that if you want something bad enough, there's usually a way to make it happen."

"You got a congregation for that sermon, or are you implying I'm the one here in need of woman advice?" Tank wanted to be understanding that the boss might be on the edge, but he wasn't sure where this was coming from.

"I was never her biggest fan," Ranger admitted to what Tank figured was a gross understatement. "But I might have misjudged her."

Tank raised an eyebrow, wanting to know what the hell that meant, but not willing to badger him about it.

"She's loyal, got a good heart, and a lot smarter than I gave her credit for."

"Lot more to smart than book learning," Tank reminded him.

"Don't insult me," Ranger quickly replied. "I just meant I judged some of her actions as rushing in where fools fear to tread, but I think she might have been doing it out of some misguided attempt to be helpful. A lot of it's easier to understand like that." Then he turned and almost walked out, before stopping himself and saying, "And if you decide to go talk to her, you might be interested in knowing she's on allergy medication now. This isn't a time of year that many people suffer from seasonal symptoms. Maybe she's trying to get ready in case some pushy son of a bitch comes her way again and is covered in pet hair."

"Did you hit your head while you were out today?" Tank asked, not sure why Ranger was telling him this.

"I didn't, but something tells me I got a kick in the ass just the same," he answered before walking away, leaving Tank to try to figure out what that meant.

He picked up the phone and dialed his coconspirator. "Did you have Lula talk to Ranger today?"

"Why hello, Mr. Tank. Thanks for calling. Was there anything I could help you with today?" she answered sweetly, as though she expected a more respectful greeting from him.

"Did you?" he pushed.

"You guys are hard to train on phone manners," she mumbled. "Yes, Lula was to begin the pressure, and if it's necessary, Connie is going to add to it after Mrs. Plum nails the coffin shut. Hopefully, we won't need Connie, but she's prepped and ready just in case."

"Any idea what Lula was going to say?" He'd love to know what she'd done to get on Ranger's good side.

"Not specifically." Mary Lou didn't seem worried. "But if you want to know, I have an idea how to get the information."

Tank knew Vinnie's office was wired, but the recordings could only be accessed from Vinnie's computer. Knowing some of the sick shit that happened on that computer, he decided he didn't want to know badly enough to risk contamination from being there just to hear Lula and Ranger talking.

Interpreting his silence as permission to keep talking, Mary Lou spoke up. "If you want to know what Lula said, I suggest you go see her at the bonds office and ask her."

"Thanks," he answered sarcastically, but she'd already hung up the phone.


	6. October 1 - Part 1

_JE gave us such wonderful characters below, that I can't help but play with them._

_Jenny (JenRar) thank you for your gentle corrections and suggestions. The process of writing is always much more fun with you playing a part in it. _

**Chapter 6 - October 1 - Part 1**

Bobby checked that everything they might need was laid out and already opened so they could access it easily in their drunken state. They had five minutes before Stephanie was to arrive, and he was anxious to get this night over with. It was his least favorite day of the year already, which usually left him pissed off, depressed and, according to Cal, grumpy as hell.

This year, he was able to add nervous to the list, which only made him angrier. Real men didn't get nervous. They looked a challenge in the eye and refused to blink. Even without the booze in his stomach, Bobby was feeling nauseous and wondering if he had a medical book in the back room that would explain whether or not it was possible to get drunk if you continued to throw up all the alcohol you were consuming before your body could absorb it.

Lester walked in without knocking. They'd been neighbors or roommates in various forms since they turned eighteen, so having him in his personal space felt as natural to Bobby as having a couch or a stove—his friend was a fixture that was necessary for the place to feel like home.

A plastic bag landed on the bar, causing Bobby to raise an eyebrow, wondering what Lester seemed to believe he'd forgotten. Bobby had been taking care of their needs for four years now without missing anything.

"A box of Tasty Cakes, some Pringles, and a couple pints of Ben and Jerry's," Les explained. "Get your panties out of a wad and chill. I knew you had us covered, but wasn't sure you remembered Steph might need some supplies to stay up with us too."

Damn, he'd forgotten to pick up some stuff for her. "Thanks, man." Bobby lifted the bag to pull the food out and checked the labels on the ice cream. "Why would you put partially uncooked food in ice cream? That just screams botulism delight."

"Really? We're about to do this thing with an audience, and the biggest question on your mind is why those fuckers put cookie dough in vanilla ice cream?" Lester challenged.

Bobby shut the freezer and moved to sit on a bar stool, in front of which were several kinds of whiskey waiting to pour into the shot glasses lined up. Les took his seat on the opposite side and filled up the first two glasses.

Holding his full glass up, he toasted, "Here's to trying to redeem this night for something good."

After they both drank the amber liquid, they slammed their glasses down on the bar, causing a stereo "clank" against the faux marble top, in what would be the first of many such sounds that evening. Before Bobby could take his turn in offering a toast, a soft knock sounded.

Neither man moved, each trying to find a measure of strength to go through with the plan. Tired of feeling like he was managing his nerves, Bobby stood up and mumbled, "I knew we should have started pouring sooner," and walked to the door.

"Hey, guys," Stephanie greeted them in her usual friendly way.

"Hey, Beautiful," Les called from his seat on the bar stool. "You gonna be our babysitter tonight?"

She seemed to find that question amusing. "I'd rather you didn't use that term for me. Anytime I get suckered into babysitting, I usually end up with less hair or permanent marker on my forehead. I'm hoping since it's you two, I'll walk out of here in the same condition I came in."

"That'd be a wasted opportunity," Les teased. "Anytime a gal spends the night with me, she should walk away a changed woman."

Before she could come up with something to say, Bobby slung his arm around her shoulder and walked her over to the kitchen, pointing to a bar stool he'd put at the end of the bar between their spots on either side. "What did Tank tell you tonight was about?"

"He didn't tell me much." She rolled her eyes, as though she'd attempted to get more information, but the big guy had been closed-mouthed about it. "Basically, he said tonight is the anniversary of something hard for you guys, and your way of commemorating the date is to lock yourselves in this apartment and drink until you pass out. He said somebody is usually with you to be sure you don't drink too much too quickly and end up with alcohol poisoning and that you don't run out of here in some kind of drunken stupor and do something you'd regret the next day."

As far as explanations went, Bobby didn't know what else he could add, at least not while he was still this sober.

Lester didn't seem to have the same concern and had filled up the shot glasses once more, lifting his in the air and waiting for Bobby to copy his action. "Here's to getting shitfaced and not remembering any of it in the morning."

Clank!

Stephanie jumped when the glasses banged down on the bar. "What do you guys do while you're waiting for the booze to kick in?"

"Watch TV, play video games... There's not an agenda we follow," Bobby answered, wishing the whiskey would hurry up and take the edge off. Feeling anxious made him feel like a pussy, and he hated that feeling, especially tonight.

"I've got an idea," Les jumped in, apparently not fighting the same internal battle Bobby was. "How do you feel about playing a game?"

"I'm not so good at video games, but if you can promise you guys won't remember much of tonight, then I'm willing to try," Steph responded, proving she was by far the most amazing woman they'd ever met. Most girls would refuse to do something they knew they weren't good at simply because they were afraid of being embarrassed.

"How about we play something other than a video game?" Les wagged his eyebrows, getting a laugh in return.

"I'm not playing spin the bottle, twister, or seven minutes in heaven, no matter how drunk you are," she warned, unable to keep a stern face.

Les pretended to be dejected and slumped on the bar. "If you're going to take away all the fun options, then we'll have to go with something simple, like truth or dare."

"You're not going to dare me to take off all my clothes, are you?" She was pretty good at finding loopholes. Something told Bobby she'd been burned a few times by eagerly agreeing to whatever had been suggested, trusting that people wouldn't take advantage of her.

"We won't make you do anything you aren't willing to do," he promised.

"Then keep those bottles away from me, because two shots in my system will make almost anything seem like something I'd be willing to do," she warned.

Les leaned in, using his bedroom voice and trying to lay the charm on as thick as possible. "We'll keep that in mind for later."

Stephanie burst out laughing, possibly wounding Lester's pride in the process, given the frown he was sporting.

"All right. How do we play?" She seemed eager.

Bobby filled both the empty shot glasses and held his in the air, waiting for Les to copy him. "Here's to daring to face the truth and for hangovers that make you forget what it was like."

Clank!

She jumped when they slammed the glasses down, but didn't seem as startled this time. They had a long night in front of them, so she needed to get used to that sound.

"I'll start." Les turned to face Stephanie. "Why'd you break up with the cop this time?"

Her smile fell a little, but she didn't look away. That kind of determination was an attractive trait in a woman. Bobby shook his head at that thought. It was way too early in the night for him to already be looking at Steph that way.

"We were together because we didn't have any other options, not because we should be together. It just hit me one night that I was watching bad TV on the sofa with a guy that I liked, but I certainly didn't want the rest of my life to include sitting beside a poorly behaved dog and letting somebody else control the remote. I was settling for something I didn't want because the thing I wanted most of all wasn't possible. But I hadn't even tried to look at any other options. I'd just allowed the thing with Joe to keep going because I was too lazy to be honest and make a break. When I told all that to Joe, he was irritated, but he couldn't disagree, so we decided to just be friends and not allow ourselves to settle for what we had until we were at least in our fifties."

"So you just stood up and walked out and haven't looked back?" Bobby looked doubtful.

Stephanie blushed, proving he was right to ask the question. "We celebrated coming to a mature decision and said goodbye for most of the night. Then I stood up and hobbled out the next morning."

Les filled up the glasses and held his in Steph's general direction. "Break-up sex isn't as good as make-up sex, but it's better than no sex at all."

Clank!

She blinked, but didn't jump.

"I don't know... Sex with Joe was never a bad way to spend the night." She got a slightly dreamy look in her eye. "I mean, he's not the best I've ever had, but he's definitely at the top of the runner-up list."

Bobby held up his hand, "You can't say any more on that subject until some of the alcohol kicks in. I don't want images of Joe rolling around in my head while I'm sober enough to remember it."

"Agreed," Stephanie replied quickly. "I don't want any images of sex rolling around in my head, because it makes this damn dry spell that much harder to deal with."

"How long's it been?" Les asked, leaning in as a sign of how interested he was in that answer.

"Well..." She looked at the ceiling, as though it were the chalkboard she needed to run her calculation. "Joe and I split up a month ago, so…thirty days. And it had been twenty-one days between our goodbye and the last time we…you know."

"Got your freak on," Les prompted with a grin.

Her face was as red as the fire alarm, but she didn't back away from the question. "I wouldn't call it freaky, but there was a release that involved a second active participant."

"You know, going that long between orgasms isn't good for you," Bobby jumped in, finally starting to feel a little more relaxed. "You start carrying tension that your body needs to get rid of, and it interferes with resting well, your appetite, and your ability to relax. Someone who has been somewhat regular with their sexual behavior shouldn't suddenly stop achieving orgasms."

"I didn't say I stopped having orgasms. I just said there was no one else around when I did it."

"Toy collection, movies, three-knuckle shuffle…" Les said, ticking off different methods of masturbation for women.

"Shouldn't we have moved to someone else answering questions for this to be a real game of truth or dare?" Stephanie blurted out, putting an end to what had been the best conversation Bobby could remember on October first in years.

"All right." He wanted to be fair. Besides, listening to her talk about sex might be entertaining and a bit of a turn-on, but it wasn't the point of the night. "What do you want to know?"

She changed the atmosphere in the room with just six words. "What are you two celebrating tonight?"

"We ain't celebrating," Les corrected. "We're remembering—at least, we're supposed to be."

With that, he poured them both another shot and held it up. "Here's to making it out when not everyone else did, but feeling like we died anyway."

Clank!

_A/N: Because of the crack-down on fanfiction around ratings, I'm going to bump this up to "M" for the next chapter. There's no real smut , but there is stronger language and some more mature subject matter. So, if you don't see the story tomorrow, be sure to switch your ratings to include all. Thanks for continuing to read along!_


	7. October 1 - Part 2

_The characters below are from JE's wonderful imagination. They are presented here because of my shameless theft. _

_Jenny (JenRar) thank you so much for your work as the beta on this story. _

**Chapter 7 - October 1 - Part 2**

_Clank!_

After the last shot, Stephanie had adjusted to their behavior and Les was starting to feel a slight buzz, so he decided it was time to rip the Band-Aid off and hope he could do it without turning into a baby.

"On October first, we remember a mission gone wrong and the night we lost the pivotal person in our trifecta."

"Who?"

"Frankie," Les and Bobby said together.

Hearing their stereo response, they each picked up a bottle of whiskey and poured their own shot before raising the glass and chanting together, "Here's to Frances Chavez, best damn scout ever and the sexiest thing to ever wear a pair of fatigues."

_Clank! _

"You've obviously done this before," Steph commented at their tag line for the lost friend.

"She hated it when we called her that," Les said with a slight smile at the way she'd get mad and tear into both of them in a convoluted Spanglish that was unique to her.

"Wait…" Steph seemed confused. "Frankie is a woman?"

"Was a woman," Bobby corrected. "Her father and grandfather were both Francis, so when she was born, her parents had agreed ahead of time that she would have the same name. Her dad was disappointed to have a daughter instead of a son to follow in his footsteps, but her mom refused to change the plan of what the baby would be called."

"When we were sent on our first mission as Rangers, we were told that we needed a scout to help us navigate the jungle and were assigned Frankie as our guide, so to speak," Les began the story.

"We were supposed to spend nine months collecting intel, hiding out, and eliminating targets as Uncle Sam identified them to us," Bobby explained further.

"It took a full year to get it all done, and during that time, we realized there was a lot more to our scout than just a chick with a guy's name." Les looked at Bobby, and they did a kind of silent communication thing Steph usually complained about. Finally, frustrated that Bobby wouldn't pick up the story, Les jumped back in. "She was amazing. Never backed down, could run, shoot, fight and swear better than most men I've known."

Steph seemed to sense what they couldn't say. "And you loved her."

"Yes," both men agreed.

Like Les, Bobby obviously knew it would take more than that. "There were a few tense weeks when we were first trying to work together, but there was this big elephant in the camp every night that both of us wanted her, but neither would make a move."

He continued, "On October first, she brought some kind of locally made corn liquor back to the camp and told us to start drinking. Once she was satisfied we were well on our way to getting sloppy-assed drunk, she told us she was going to make this easy on us both and basically acknowledged what we'd been fighting."

Les took over again. "She said we were going to take this one night as a test, chalk it up to being isolated for so long with just the three of us for company, and we were going to do a little experimenting."

"For science," Bobby added with a smile. "It wasn't that any of us were freaks, but we owed it to science to see if what she was talking about was physically possible, or appealing only because it was the unknown."

"Right." Les grinned, remembering the words she'd spoken. "She started with me and told Bobby that medicine said if this was a bad idea, he'd be sickened by what she was about to do. Then she demanded he sit there and be completely still and not make a sound while she went down on me like nobody's business."

Steph's eyes got big, but she didn't say a thing. She only leaned forward with her elbows on the bar for support.

"By the time she was done, I felt like the end of my dick had exploded, and I hoped she was going to tell me to stay still, because I wasn't sure I could get up and walk." He shook his head.

Bobby picked up the story again. "Of course, when she finished and turned to look at me, I was speechless and about as hard as I've ever been, so she looked back at Les and said, 'Well, it appears science guy over there isn't repulsed, so it's your turn to be a good little soldier and hold still while I see if the good doctor only likes to watch.'

"I never knew that kind of suction was possible, but when she finished and sat back on the ground at our feet, I knew that whatever personal hang-up I might have thought I had about sharing a woman, apparently my dick didn't feel the same, because watching them was freaking hot, and then knowing he was watching us only made it better."

Les picked it up again. "So over the next few months, we went from some kind of taking turns, but keeping it separate shit, to having her between us, and at the end of the year, it was just the three of us, no coupling, no sharing. It was like a three-legged stool."

Bobby poured this time, and they lifted their shots to say, "Here's to the three-legged stool."

Before they drank, Les added, "Where some legs are longer than others."

_Clank!_

"How long were you together?" Steph prompted the second their glasses hit the counter.

"Four years exactly to the day," Bobby answered, knowing the rest of the story needed to come out.

"Most people saw us and assumed it was some kind of weird sex thing, or that Bobby and I were gay and somehow pulled Frankie in to gain acceptance."

Les was getting deep in the memory, and Bobby knew if he didn't move it along, his friend was going to get lost there and would be unable to help him tell the story.

"But for us, it was perfect," he continued. "She was as tough as we were when it was called for, and when it was just us, she didn't mind being soft so that we could take care of her. It was as close to heaven as I figure a person can get."

"And then the trifecta got called for another long-serve mission," Les said, providing the pivot point for the story.

"We tended to take the longer duties, because as long as we were together, it didn't matter to us where we served, so we took the orders for a six-month tour and went through all our usual prep work to be gone that long." Bobby hesitated, not sure how to keep going. "But something was different for Frankie. She didn't want to go."

"It was so bad the last night before we shipped out that I was ready to go AWOL just to keep from making her do something that was clearly freaking her out," Les added.

"At 0500, she seemed to make a decision and ordered us to get dressed and ready to head out. After that point, it was like a switch had been flipped and she was the commanding officer of our unit, so we followed her lead and tried to forget her earlier worries." Bobby remembered tearing up the medical form he'd started filling out, trying to come up with a legitimate health reason to ask to have their mission postponed. If he had one moment in his life he wished he could redo, that would be it.

"Two weeks into the mission, on October first, we were ambushed." Les had a whiskey bottle in his hand, turning it slowly so the light would reflect off the liquid at different angles. "I had been securing the perimeter to the north, and Bobby was to the south, which meant Frankie was in the middle and was alone when they attacked."

"We ran like hell to get back to her, but by the time we took out the rebels, she was almost gone, bleeding out faster than I could fix." Bobby poured a shot, but the shaking of his hand caused him to spill some on the counter. It spread quickly and made him think of the way her precious blood had pooled on the ground while he was helpless to stop it.

"I put her head in my lap and held her hand while Bobby did…everything." Lester's voice sounded hollow, and Bobby hated that they hadn't been able to move past this and forced each other to relive the pain of that night each year. "But she knew this was it and the end was coming fast."

Bobby downed his shot, and Les immediately followed with one of his own.

_Clank! Clank!_

"She used her free hand to stop what I was doing and said our names." Bobby knew it was time to finish this while they still could. "She made us promise to take care of each other and not to forget what we shared, and then she…her eyes, they just…"

"Closed," Stephanie prompted.

"No," Les corrected. "They faded, but they were still open. She died with her eyes wide open, looking at us."

"We knew she wanted to be cremated and buried at sea in the ocean near where she grew up, so we kept going because we had to fulfill her wish. If she hadn't told us that before the mission, we probably would have ended everything there just because we knew that going on without her would be impossible. It would never be the way it had been, and there was no way to replace somebody like Frankie," Bobby continued.

"So we did everything she told us to and then came back here." Les went back to staring at the bottle. "We locked ourselves in this apartment and started drinking. When we woke up the next day, the door was split in two, and Ranger was sitting in the chair watching us both. He waited until we were awake enough to hear and remember before talking real quiet-like."

"'Frankie served with me too,'" Bobby remembered aloud. "'She was the best of the best, and you aren't going to ruin her memory by turning into something she would've hated. From now on, you set aside one day a year, and you get as sloppy drunk as you need to in order to numb it for the next year. I'll have men on standby to keep your sorry asses alive and safe. But the rest of the time, you live in a way she would have approved of.' Then he stood up and set a bottle of aspirin on the table with a couple bottles of Gatorade and walked out."

"So that's why you do this every year, because you need to numb the loss so you can keep going?" Stephanie summed up what they'd said, but didn't seem to fully understand it.

"Ranger knew we were close to just saying to hell with it and ending it all," Les tried explaining. "He gave us a way to keep going and gave us access to his company so we could act like babies and not take it too far. He didn't try to belittle what we'd lost, and he didn't leave us to work it out on our own. He gave us a way to cope that we could handle and then gave us jobs and orders to follow until we got our heads in the game enough to stand on our own."

"We ain't got blood to tie us," Bobby added, "but we're family. He went to Frankie's funeral, and he gave us a place to be when the rest of the world didn't make sense. But he never just gave up on us. He used RangeMan as a way to keep us going and to show us that he cared, even if he didn't have the words. There's nobody here in the inner circle that Ranger doesn't love in one way or another. He doesn't give access to what he put his blood and sweat into building if he doesn't have a damn good reason to."

They poured more shots and raised them up, waiting to see what they were drinking to.

"To RangeMan, the best damn family of complete misfits I've ever known," Les announced before making quick work of the short cup.

_Clank!_

"Wait," Stephanie said, interrupting the quiet. "You said Frankie told you not to forget what you had."

"And we haven't," Les agreed, nodding in an exaggerated way.

"But you two aren't a couple." Stephanie seemed even more confused.

"No." Bobby filled his glass, but didn't drink it. "We were a trifecta. Without the third leg, the other two just fall over. We tried it right after we came back, and it was wrong. Off."

"So, we kept working together, because we're still solid partners, but we moved to separate apartments and lives," Les finished, completing the picture.

"How is that remembering what you had?" Steph challenged.

"This ain't exactly a walk in the park," Bobby said, pointing between himself and Lester. "We're remembering, like we do every year, because we'll be damned if we'll let someone like Frankie be forgotten."

"But what if that's not what she wanted?" Steph could be a dog with a bone when something was unclear, and she was clearly on the trail of something at the moment, so Bobby, along with Lester, tossed back another drink and let her work it out.

_Clank!_

"What if she was telling you not to forget that it wasn't just her with each of you, but that you two had each other too? She knew she was leaving, but she didn't want you to forget that the two of you needed to lean on each other now, instead of leaning into the hole her death was going to leave." A single tear rolled down her face, but Stephanie ignored it to press her point. "You think she'd be happy to know you guys stay in separate apartments and only come together one night a year to get drunk? That's not remembering what you had. It's intentionally ignoring it."

"But without her, it was off," Les argued weakly.

"Of course it was." Steph seemed to be getting more emboldened the longer she spoke. "It's like taking the training wheels off a bike and riding on just two for the first time. No kid does that without falling a few times at first. But you don't see many thirty-year-olds still peddling tri-cycles do you?" She didn't wait for a response before plowing on. "No, you keep at it until you learn to balance without the extra support, and then you move forward on two wheels. Don't you think that's what she meant? Don't you think it would make her happy to look down and see you guys still together?"

"I don't think when Ranger suggested this that he meant it was the only time you guys would spend together. He just meant you needed some time where you weren't looking out for each other so that you could hurt and grieve and acknowledge what was gone. He wasn't trying to pull you guys apart."

When she said it like that, Bobby knew it made sense, but it could also be the booze logic.

Unexpectedly, Les chuckled, then gave up trying to hold it in and laughed out loud. Bobby glared at him until he calmed down and explained his outburst. "When Beautiful is pissed, she's a lot like Frankie, ain't she?"

Bobby looked at the woman watching them and could see some similarities, especially in the eyes. Frankie had amazing eyes. They were green, not blue like Stephanie's, but they changed colors when she got mad, or horny, and when she was sad, one look at them was enough to make it feel like his chest had been torn open. Yeah, Bobby knew exactly what Les was getting at.

They silently poured another shot and downed it without a toast. At some point, they usual let go of the fanfare and just drank in silence anyway. There was no point in talking once you got to the point of feeling like the wound was fresh. After that, you just wanted to drink enough to pass out to make the hurting stop.

_Clank!_

Stephanie jumped, but instead of it being in surprise, she reached and grabbed for the bottle near Bobby's hand and poured some in the glass closest to her, tossing it back and making a face as it burned its way down.

After shivering, she slammed her own cup down.

_Clank!_

Then she reached out for their hands, making them jump at the unexpected, yet familiar feeling. "Come with me."

Her tone was commanding enough to make it clear she wasn't interested in being questioned. They were just drunk enough to be slow in responding, so she had them off their stools and down the short hall before Bobby realized where they were heading.

He wasn't so drunk that he thought Ranger would let them live if they slept with his woman. He always seemed to understand what they needed without asking questions and just provided it without expectation of something in return, but there was a limit to what a man like Ranger would take, and them screwing Stephanie was miles past that limit.

"Hold up." Bobby stopped walking. "We can't have sex with you."

"We can't?" Les asked, apparently not having connected all the dots Bobby had while they were moving.

Bobby pulled his hand free from Stephanie grasp to hold up his index finger. "Sleeping with a woman on October first ain't honoring Frankie. It's cheating." He added his middle finger. "Sleeping with Ranger's woman is a fast way to guarantee this is the last year we're alive to remember what this date means." Finally, he added his forth finger and said, "And this is Stephanie. We could do it, and I'll bet it would be amazing, but are you telling me it's okay to use somebody we respect the way we do her? When you wake up in the morning, will you be okay telling her goodbye and acting like we hadn't been at her as long as we were physically able?"

"When you put it like that, it sounds like a suicide mission," Les replied, looking a little pale. Then he looked around, appearing slightly confused about why he was standing in the hallway. "I'm going to need more whiskey; I'm nowhere near done enough to pass out."

"I'm glad you got that straightened out," Steph spoke up, grabbing both their hands anew. "Because I never said anything about us having sex. But the two of you need to find a way to reconnect, and just for tonight, I think it will be easier if you have someone between you to remind you what it was like."

"We can't let you do that," Bobby argued again, his vision a little blurry so that he had to blink quickly to be sure only one version of Stephanie stayed in his eyesight.

"There's no letting," Stephanie disagreed. "I'm going to climb in the middle of your bed, and you two are going to lie down on either side of me. We're going to get really close together, and you're going to talk until we all go to sleep."

"That's fine for tonight," Bobby agreed, "but when the sun comes up in the morning and you get up, then what do we do?"

"You stay in bed and talk some more and hold each other accountable to the promise you made Frankie to not forget," she explained gently.

Too far gone to fight, they let her pull them into the bedroom, and watched as she toed off her shoes and then slipped out of her jeans, folding them up neatly and putting them on the dresser by the door. She reached into her T-shirt and managed to get her bra off without removing her shirt. It was for the best, but Lester's face certainly showed disappointment at the lack of a show.

She climbed in the center of the bed exactly as she'd said she would and then patted the mattress on either side of her hips. "Strip down and get in bed. You guys are exhausted, and it's time to finally get some rest."

They looked at each other, clearly trying to figure out if this was a mistake.

"Bobby…" Lester's voice cracked when he said his partner's name. "I want to get in that bed."

"So do I," Bobby quickly agreed.

"But you can't disappear on me in the morning."

There was so much pain and vulnerability in that sentence, Stephanie had to look away. How had these guys managed to put one foot in the front of the other since they lost Frankie?

"You sure this is okay?" Bobby asked her. "We don't ever want to make you uncomfortable."

"Come on," she prompted. "I get to be surrounded by two wonderful men, whom I adore, and I get to help ease them a little to show them how much I appreciate all they've done for me over the years. Let me help you guys…just tonight."

"Hit the lights," Les told Bobby and then started pulling off his clothes so that he was standing in the darkness in nothing but his boxers.

Bobby quickly followed, and then they climbed up the mattress from the foot of the bed, in a motion they obviously used to complete in tandem every night.

Stephanie seemed uncertain how they needed her positioned and stayed on her back, waiting for them to tell her how they wanted her.

What she didn't expect was for each of them to lift her arms and place their heads on her shoulders so their faces were on her chest. She briefly had the mental image of a mother comforting twins who were frightened by a storm during the night, and she let her hands rest on their strong shoulders, rubbing them softly.

"I miss her," Les said to the darkness.

"I miss her too," Bobby assured him.

Stephanie was silent, not wanting to disrupt what she figured was probably the first honest emotions they'd shared since Frankie died.

"I miss you too, Les," Bobby finally spoke.

Lester never replied. It clearly wasn't that he didn't hear, but the tears flowing onto Stephanie's T-shirt were enough to let both her and Bobby know he felt the same way.

They reached out over her with their free arms and clasped them around each other. Stephanie continued to trace patterns on their backs and upper arms until her hands grew numb from the lack of circulation. Just before she insisted they let her move her shoulders, she realized they had both fallen asleep.

Steph knew she'd only had one shot of whiskey, but it must have been enough to get to her head, because as she was drifting off, she could swear she heard a woman whisper, "Thank you."


	8. Things Aren't Always as They Appear

_The characters below are all from the imagination of JE, sadly, they are not mine._

_Jenny (JenRar) you are a wonderful beta and I am eternally grateful for your hard work on this story._

**Chapter 8 - Things Aren't Always as They Appear**

"Rangeman!" Tank's deep voice boomed through the gym, pulling Ranger from the trance he'd been in. He dropped his hands and let his eyes focus on the bag in front of him. Damn, for what these things cost, you'd think they'd hold up better than this.

"I think it's safe to call you the winner," Tank spoke evenly, as though he didn't want to spook the man breathing heavily in front of him. "You want to tell me what the bag did to deserve that kind of treatment?"

When did his second-in-command decide to be a comedian? Ranger shook his head that he wasn't ready to talk.

"The men are coming in and looking at you like an intervention might be necessary. If you need to spar, say the word and I'll suit up, but seeing you go at the bag like that… Hector's pulling up Stephanie's trackers, and Cal is ready to head over to her apartment to see if something's happened to her." Tank reached in the gaping hole in the bag and pulled out some stuffing as a visual aid. "You usually reserve this kind of treatment for when she's got a stalker."

"No." The single word was all Ranger could manage, but he would be damned if anybody was going to check on her other than him. He'd barely slept the night before thinking through what Lula said and trying to figure out why he was so resistant to going over to her apartment.

He refused to call it fear, but he'd admitted to himself over a glass of aged scotch that he was worried what the change in Stephanie's attitude meant for him. She'd finally managed to free herself from the cop. Did that mean she wanted to be free of him as well?

His life was so much simpler when he kept a strict no-entanglements policy. Of course, it was also a lot more lonely and a hell of lot more boring. He'd even ordered My Fair Lady and had watched Henry Higgins tutor Eliza and then found himself humming the tune, "I've grown accustomed to her face," the next day at work. Damn it all, he had grown accustomed to Stephanie and all her little quirks. He didn't want to be cut out of her life, but he couldn't force her to accept him either.

Throwing a final punch at the bag, he spun and left before Tank called Bobby. The second that thought crossed his mind, he realized what today was—October second. He always checked on Bobby and Lester the day after their annual binge. He hated the cycle they lived in, surviving 364 days a year, to let it all out on a single day, but he didn't know how to help them beyond assigning men to stand outside their room to check on them through the night. Hopefully, one day, they'd find a way to let go of the grief they wore like heavy cloaks, but until then, he'd keep an eye on them.

With that decided, he went to his apartment and took a fast shower before getting dressed for the day. He needed to run down to four and be sure they'd made it through another commemoration, and then he'd head over to Stephanie's and see if she might still be asleep. Hopefully, he could watch her for a while before her body alerted her that she was being stared at. She'd probably get mad at him for waking her up, but yelling was better than the silence she'd been giving him lately.

When he got to the door, there was no one at the post. Ranger paused and wondered why they'd left already. He usually dismissed whoever had the last shift. Carefully picking the lock, he stepped in and saw the bottles and shot glasses on the bar. It looked like they'd only opened two bottles and only managed to finish half of each. It was a ton of straight alcohol, but compared to previous years, it wasn't so bad. Maybe it was getting easier.

Ranger slipped into the bedroom, not seeing evidence that they'd passed out along the way. It was dark. Someone had pulled the curtain closed, and no lights were on. Despite the darkness, Ranger was still able to tell there was an extra body in their bed. Whoever those sexy legs belonged to, they were trapped under Bobby and Lester, who seemed to be clinging to each other over the body beneath them.

He moved as quietly as possible so he didn't disturb anyone until he heard someone swear.

"Shit…I'm going to piss the bed if they don't let me go."

There was no way that voice was who it sounded like. It was entirely too early for her to be awake, and if Bobby and Lester wanted to live to have another remembrance of Frankie, they damn well better not have pulled Stephanie into their twisted-ass bed.

He moved back into the bedroom, looked at the head between the guys, and saw the curls he loved so much. Ranger put his hand on his chest and scratched over a place that stung. He took a shaky breath and wondered if he wanted to leave and give them a chance to explain after they were sober, or if he wanted to yell at the top of his lungs that somebody tell him what the fuck was going on so they could feel some of the pain he was experiencing at the moment.

Before he could decide, Stephanie called out, "Are you just going to stand there all day, or are you going to help me get out from underneath them? Every time I move, they grip each other tighter, and I can hardly breathe."

He didn't answer, but he knew he couldn't leave her stuck and uncomfortable either, so he moved over and pulled their arms up, indicating she should slide down from between them to the end of the bed. As she scooted, her shirt rode up, and Ranger noticed she was still wearing her panties. More accurately, he figured those cotton cover-ups could be described as underwear. They screamed practical and didn't look like the kind of thing Stephanie owned, much less wore if she thought she was going to get pulled in bed with two men.

After she extracted herself completely, he dropped their hands and watched as the guys he'd worried about for so long moved until they were pressed tightly against each other. Frankie would have liked that, and he felt for the first time in a long time that if these two could figure out how to be together without her as the glue, they might just make it.

While he was gawking, Stephanie had slipped into her jeans and was busy shoving her feet in her sneakers. Ranger smirked at how well-worn they appeared. Apparently you could wear out shoes just from walking in the mall, because he knew she hadn't done it running.

He followed her out to the living room and watched her put the tops back on the whiskey and move the used glasses to the sink before wiping down the counter and looking around to be sure everything else was straight.

"Babe," he started, wanting to ask her so many things, but not knowing where to begin.

"Ranger." She'd copied his inflection perfectly. Her face was blank and her eyes gave nothing away. He assumed this was why she used to get so angry when he didn't speak much, because he hated trying to figure out what was going on in her head while she didn't give him any clues.

He figured he was going to have to say more than her name, so he blurted out the first thing that came into his mind. "You have a good night?"

Her eyes narrowed, and he knew he'd picked the wrong thing to say. "You mean watching two guys I care deeply for drink themselves silly and wallow in grief and pain? Sure, it was a laugh a minute."

"That's not what I meant." He found himself wishing he could explain. He never explained himself, and he couldn't force any more words to come out now. How had things broken down between them? It was never forced before. How did it get so damned screwed up?

"I'm sorry," she offered, obviously believing that he hadn't intended to imply anything sexual had occurred.

Down deep, he knew it hadn't. Lester and Bobby wouldn't betray him that way, and based on the lack of glow, Stephanie certainly hadn't done anything with them.

"I'm exhausted and have no idea exactly why Tank wanted me to be here with the guys, so I'm still reeling from everything they shared."

That explained why there wasn't a guard at the door, if Tank had convinced Stephanie to stay with them. The real question here was why they'd allowed it. For four years now, they'd treated this night as sacred and not allowed anyone near them. He wondered what had changed and why he wasn't aware of it.

"Do you want…" He was about to offer to take her to the diner where they first met for a cup of coffee. Maybe going back to the beginning would help them to find whatever they'd lost recently. Before he could finish the invitation, her cell phone began ringing. He paused to see if she was going to answer it, assuming she'd let it roll to voice mail.

He dropped his blank face in place when she quickly grabbed it from her bag and answered without even checking the caller ID. She would rather deal with an unknown person that continue talking to him.

As soon as she got it to her ear, her shoulders fell and she lifted her free hand to press on her forehead. He didn't need to hear a word. He already knew it was her mother. No one but Helen Plum could get that reaction from Stephanie.

"No, Mom, I'm fine. I've just been busy," she tried to explain. "Yes, I am, but not—" Before she could finish, she was apparently cut off. Stephanie looked at the ceiling, and he thought her eyes were growing bluer, which could only mean she was getting upset about something.

"Hey, Babe," he called out loudly enough that he knew her mother could hear him.

"It's Ranger," she told Helen. "Because I'm in his building. That's why you hear him. People work, you know."

Her eyes flew to his face, and she bit her lip, as though her mother had said something that made Stephanie uncertain. He decided to take a chance on what that could be and took a few steps to get into Stephanie's personal space. Her eyes looked slightly unfocused, and he realized how much he'd missed this. He yearned to see her respond to him. Maybe she was done with the cop and maybe she wasn't, but he was sick and tired of waiting to see what his fate was going to be.

"You need company for dinner tonight?" he asked, looking Stephanie right in the eye.

She nodded slowly, as though she couldn't believe he was volunteering.

"I'll pick you up at your place at seventeen thirty." Then he kissed her curls, took a deep breath, and moved to let himself out. She didn't tell him no, and he was going to leave while she was still too dazed to argue the point.

It took Stephanie thirty minutes to figure out that Ranger had said he was picking her up at 5:30 for dinner with her parents. Her mother had heard him say it, so now she had to let him take her. He'd gone to a few Plum family dinners, and if he was crazy enough to volunteer for this one, then she wasn't going to stop him. It would provide a distraction at the very least. Her mother had been entirely too nice lately, especially this week, so she felt on edge, as though the next time they were together, her mom was going to go in for the kill. Maybe having Ranger there would give her an extra layer of protection. Even if things had been weird between them for a few weeks, she still felt pretty confident he wouldn't let anything happen if he could prevent it.

It took her two hours to shower and get ready, which had to be a new record for a family dinner. Usually, she just wore whatever her hands fell on first that was reasonably unstained. Knowing Ranger was going to be there meant she needed to put more effort into it. She felt like this was such a rare opportunity lately to be around him that she didn't want to waste it in a pair of the granny panties Valerie had given to her for her birthday. She'd meant to throw them out, but somehow, they'd ended up in her lingerie drawer, and she'd worn them last night because that was what was on top.

Fortunately, Les and Bobby were too drunk to remember any of what had happened, so even if they got a peek at her immense cotton briefs, they wouldn't remember it. Most likely, Ranger wouldn't stick around for a glimpse of what was under the short denim skirt she was wearing, but she wasn't going to take any chances in him really having x-ray vision like Lula claimed and him seeing her in something that pitiful.

She put on a light pink cotton button-up shirt and tucked it in. One thing about the funk she'd been in lately was that she'd been too down in the dumps to do much shopping, so her pantry had been bare long enough that she was starting to find her waistband looser. When she slipped her feet in the sandals she'd picked out and glanced in the mirror, she wondered where the girl next door staring back at her had come from.

"Looking good, Plum," she said to herself, "Almost unrecognizable."

The reflection showed someone who was fun and sporty, a rare combination for her lately. When had she gotten so serious and depressed? She remembered how thick the grief was last night between Lester and Bobby and wondered if Ranger had felt something like that when he'd been around her lately. Was that why he'd been avoiding her?

If that was what happened, then it was certainly within her control to fix that. She thought back to what Hector had told her about how Ranger had treated him when he was at his worst. Then she remembered Les and Bobby sharing how Ranger had pulled them into RangeMan when they were at rock bottom and watched over them through his company because they were family.

Ranger had always encouraged her to call him or his men. He told her there was no price to the help he gave her, even though she wasn't fool enough to believe it didn't cost him each time one of his men was shot, or when he lost a car because one of her crazies decided to target it. He'd been trying to pull her into RangeMan for a couple of years now. Did he want her to be a part of his band of misfits, or did he want something different from her?

The only way to know for sure was to ask him, but she knew herself well enough to know that wasn't going to happen. Still, he had volunteered to pick her up tonight and endure one of her family dinners, so he had to feel something for her, or he wouldn't be putting his "package" in harm's way voluntarily.

She heard the chain on her door slide and knew Ranger was using his super powers to break in her apartment. She'd decided a year ago that even though she was curious about how he did it, she didn't really want to know, so she waited until the door opened to step out into the living room.

She hated that she blushed when she noticed his eyes roaming over her body, taking in the outfit she'd picked out.

"Cute," he summed up, confusing her even more. He was smiling slightly, like he was pleased about something, but wasn't cute something you called your sister or a puppy in a pet store window?

It was too late to change and she wasn't going to ask exactly what he meant, so she picked up her purse and did a quick check that all her supplies were in it: Snickers bar, hairspray, lip gloss, mascara, nail file, stun gun, and cell phone. It was already heavy, and she did have Ranger with her, so she decided to forgo putting in her .38. What were the chances of her needing it anyway?

"Does it have bullets in it?" Ranger asked, that sexy little smirk on his face.

"No. I had one, but I think I lost it," she answered, realizing she must have been talking out loud again.

"You weren't talking, but you were staring at your cookie jar, so I guessed."

Stephanie did a double take. Ranger was offering information that kept her from believing he had magic skills in ESP. It was both refreshing and slightly alarming.

"As much as I'd rather stay here and discuss it," Ranger interrupted her pondering, "if you want to get to your parents' house before the roast is dry, then we should probably leave now."

He placed his hand at the small of her back and gently guided her from the elevator to his Turbo. She melted into the seat and took a deep breath of the scent that was a combination of Bulgari, leather, and pure man. If a candle company could bottle this scent, they'd be filthy rich.

Ranger took his seat behind the wheel and began heading to the 'Burg. Just as they turned onto the street where she knew her mother and grandmother would be waiting, she turned to him and said, "In case things get a little nutty here tonight, I'm really glad you brought me. I've missed spending time with you."

He pulled up to the curb and wanted to tell her that he'd missed spending time with her too, but she groaned before he could.

"It looks like their internal radar alerted them to our presence."

She opened her door and began to climb out, but Ranger grabbed her arm to stop her before her watching family at the door could see her.

"Babe, in case things get a little nutty tonight, there's nothing I'd rather do than spend time with you."


	9. Comfort Comes in Many Forms

_JE deserves all the credit for the characters I'm using below._

_Jenny (JenRar) deserves all the credit for any sections that are well written or flow nicely as the beta in the story._

**Chapter 9 - Comfort Comes in Many Forms**

"Mr. Manoso, it's nice to have you escort Stephanie to dinner."

Mrs. Plum had her perfect manners on display. Ranger hadn't expected it be any different with them still on the front porch, where the neighbors could see them. The real threat was how she would act after they stepped inside and closed the door.

"Hey, Grandma." Stephanie let her elderly grandmother pull her close for a hug.

"It's good to see you, baby girl." Her knotted fingers gently touched Stephanie's face, and despite her many faults and eccentricities, Ranger appreciated the fact her joy was always evident when she talked to her favorite granddaughter.

Stephanie passed by her mother and moved into the den, where her father was in his typical spot in front of the television. Ranger attempted to follow her path, but was cut off when he felt a sharp pinch on his rear-end. He tried not to let it show, but it surprised him every time when Stephanie's grandmother managed to do that. Bent over, eighty years old, and beginning to develop cataracts, but still able to get the slip on an Army Ranger. Thank God none of the guys were here.

Mrs. Plum took the distraction as an opportunity to begin getting her digs in and announced, "Since you took so long to get here, I can't offer you any before dinner drinks. I'll finish bringing the meal to the table."

Ranger watched as Stephanie let out a long breath, and he moved behind her, hoping that his physical closeness would give her some support to know she wasn't alone.

The meal began with just the usual clanking of silverware against the plates and dishes being passed around. Mr. Plum tucked into his dinner and began shoveling the food with his head bent down, giving the impression he was hoping to eat without being disturbed.

Stephanie had just taken her first bite of mashed potatoes loaded with the thick brown gravy when Mrs. Plum asked, "Are you in some kind of trouble, Stephanie?"

She shook her head no and swallowed her food quickly to add, "I'm not in trouble."

"Then why do you have a bodyguard?" Mrs. Plum pressed the point, glancing quickly between Ranger and Stephanie.

Realizing she wasn't going to be able to finish her dinner in peace, Stephanie put her fork down and sighed. "I don't have a bodyguard. I have a friend."

Ranger picked up his water glass to have something in front of his face. He wasn't sure when he'd last had someone publically call him their friend—probably elementary school. While he didn't think it did justice to what they shared, it still implied he held a certain place in her life, and he was proud of the fact that she was so clearly declaring it to her parents.

While he was dwelling on the semantics of friendship, Mrs. Plum set her fork down and reached for the glass next to her water that contained a darker beverage. After taking a large gulp, she said, "I plan on inviting Joseph over for dinner on Sunday. Do you want him to pick you up, or will you meet him here?"

Stephanie coughed a few times, apparently swallowing some of her roast whole. "If you want to have Joe come over for dinner, that's your business, but he and I aren't together anymore, and I'm not coming with him."

Her mother made a gesture that implied what Stephanie had said wasn't important. "Couples argue, but you're not getting any younger, and you need to realize you can't be so particular. Joseph is your best chance at happiness, and if you can't do something about that, then I'll have to do it for you."

"I'm happier alone than I was with Joe," Steph pointed out.

"You say that now because it's only been a few weeks," her mother countered. "But you need to think longer term than just how you feel today. If you don't want to be alone when you're forty, then you need to swallow some of your pride and make things right with Joe before you do anything else to make it more difficult."

"What do you mean before I do anything else?"

Stephanie's eyes were darkening, and Ranger wondered why she continued to let her mother attack her like this. He'd never understood why she wouldn't stand up to her family.

"What have I done wrong?"

"You brought another man to dinner." Mrs. Plum motioned in Ranger's direction.

"I've brought plenty of other people here for dinner," Steph pointed out before picking up her fork, as though she figured this conversation was over so she could resume her dinner.

"Yes, but I think we all know that this particular guest is a bit of a sore spot for Joseph." Mrs. Plum wasn't as eager to end the discussion. "You need to be more respectful of his feelings."

"What about my feelings?" Stephanie wondered aloud.

"You and Joseph have always worked out your differences in the past. Just because this little hiccup has lasted longer than most doesn't mean it's the end," her mother said, trying a different approach.

"Oh yes, it does," Stephanie disagreed with such vehemence that Ranger nearly believed her.

"Down deep, you want him, even if you're being too stubborn to admit it," Mrs. Plum assumed.

"No, I don't." Stephanie's palm slapped the table. "He and I broke up because we agreed neither of us really wanted to be together. We were just going through the motions out of habit because we couldn't have what we really wanted."

"If you recognize that you can't have what you want, then it makes no sense to give up what you can have." Mrs. Plum seemed completely confused about the point her daughter was trying to make.

"I don't want to settle for a consolation prize," Stephanie spoke quietly.

Ranger was proud of her for that statement, even if she seemed embarrassed by it. She was taking a first step in making her life truly her own, and he was glad to see it.

Mrs. Plum just blinked, as though the statement had been spoken in a foreign language. "You've always felt the need to sow your wild oats, but at some point, you need to grow up and realize the bad boy isn't the person who will stay by your side when you grow old."

Ranger bit the inside of his mouth to keep from telling Mrs. Plum that he was the one who sat by Stephanie's bed each time she got hurt, not the Italian cop, who would drop by and leave as quick as possible. He was the one who took care of her needs as much as she'd let him. Never Morelli. Ranger had done everything he could to show Stephanie he'd be by her side in whatever capacity she'd let him. But this wasn't his family, and he didn't want to make things difficult for Stephanie by pointing any of that out.

"Are you calling Ranger a bad boy?" Stephanie almost seemed amused by the term. He could see the humor in it too, but right now, he wasn't in the mood to be diverted.

"I'm merely pointing out what everyone already knows. He's killed people and deals with criminals on a regular basis. When you associate with lowlifes, some of that will wear off on you."

Mrs. Plum grabbed her booze cup and took a long drink from it. Ranger had never seen her consume so much alcohol before, and he wondered what was going on. The words were difficult to hear, but he couldn't exactly argue against them. After she said them aloud, it almost looked like she needed to wash the taste of them from her mouth.

While Ranger was watching Mrs. Plum, he'd apparently missed Stephanie building up a full head of steam.

"Did you seriously just call Ranger a lowlife?" She sounded incredulous.

"I didn't use that word for him directly," Mrs. Plum said, clearly splitting hairs, "but I have heard him referred to as a mercenary and...and a thug."

The metal of her fork made a loud clanking sound when it fell from Stephanie's hand and hit her plate. "Don't you ever insult Ranger like that again." Her voice was twice as loud as it had been, and a red tint was moving up her face. "He's a good and honorable man who has never done anything other than protect those who were unable to protect themselves and fight the battles no one else was brave enough to try fighting."

Her chair pitched over and hit the floor with a bang after she jumped up abruptly and tossed her napkin on the table. "Until you can give him the respect he deserves, I refuse to come back to this house. For years, I've listened to you belittle me and insult my choices, but I'll be damned if I'll let you do that to him."

"But if you spend time with him, people will assume you're a couple," Mrs. Plum offered one last argument to sway her daughter to her side.

"I'd be honored if people thought Ranger would ever consider being with me," Stephanie roared with her arms in the air.

Turning to face him, her eyes softened and then began to fill with tears, "I'm so sorry. I'll never ask you to come back here." She turned and stepped away from the table. "Let's go eat somewhere else."

Ranger wiped his mouth, refusing to rush and give the appearance that he was running away. As Stephanie left the dining room, Ranger leaned in toward Mrs. Plum and lowered his voice to say, "I couldn't care less what you think of me, but you just upset your daughter, and I don't tolerate anyone making Stephanie cry."

He stopped to pick up the chair Stephanie had knocked over and slid it into its proper place in front of the plate that barely been touched.

As he walked away, Ranger heard Mr. Plum speak for the first time that evening, "I hope you know what you're doing, Helen. Interfering is one thing, but doing it like that may come back to hurt you."

"You worry too much, Frank," she replied, although her voice had a twinge of doubt in it.

Stephanie was standing next to the Turbo when Ranger made it out of the house. Her right hand was in the air, and he had no doubt she was mumbling her private thoughts aloud, completely unaware that she was doing it.

He moved slowly, trying to give her a private moment to get it out of her system.

She turned and saw him approaching and ran to meet him on the sidewalk. There were tears on her face and her eyes were more gray than blue. "I'm so sorry. She's never insulted people that have come to dinner with me before. Normally, I'm the only one she picks on."

Her voice sounded defeated and broken, as though she was sure Ranger was going to cut her out of his life because of her mother's insults. He cupped her cheek and wished there was a way to transfer through his touch how he felt in that moment. It would certainly make it easier than finding words to do it justice.

"You stood up for me," he finally said, moving forward to close the small amount of space between them.

Stephanie's eyes grew larger, and she seemed to take a small step backwards each time he advanced. Fortunately, their slow-speed chase was short-lived because the car was only four steps away and it stopped her retreat.

"Do you know how long it's been since somebody stood up for me?"

"Probably years," she guessed, and a slow nod from him confirmed that was accurate. "Because you have never done anything to deserve being insulted, so you don't need defending."

This time, he moved his head from side to side. "Your mother didn't say anything that was a direct lie," he pointed out, trying to be sure Stephanie hadn't confused Ranger's past in her mind at some point. He had the blood of many souls on his hands.

"She was saying you were a bad person, and that's a lie." Stephanie was looking him in the eye, but she looked afraid, and he wanted to wipe that fear off of her face.

"I've done a lot of bad things," Ranger corrected.

She shook her head, refusing to hear it. "You've done a lot of difficult things. You weren't doing them out of hatred, but out of a need to make things right."

Mostly, but he wasn't sure now was the time to debate that, and this definitely wasn't the place to talk about it. A woman across the street was standing on the porch, watching them with obvious curiosity.

"Why were you settling with Morelli?" Ranger wondered if she might give him an honest answer if he switched tactics quickly.

"Because what I really wanted, I couldn't have, so I just stayed with him because it was easier than admitting the truth," she confessed.

"Why can't you have what you want?" he asked, knowing he'd give her the world if he could. The thought that she had an ideal in her head and it could potentially be within his means to help her achieve it would eat away at him.

"Because…" She paused and blinked before looking away. The second she broke eye contact, he knew the moment was lost and she was going to shut down. "Please don't push this."

"Babe." He whispered her name, letting his tone caress the word. "If there is anything in the world you want, all you have to do is name it."

"This isn't something money can buy," she answered, still refusing to look up at him. "No price."

His breath stuck in his throat at her word choice. His mind flew through all the possibilities of what she might be referring to. The one he wished was true was that she wanted him and somehow suffered under the delusion that he didn't feel the same way.

"How about we go back to seven and let Ella bring us some dinner?" he suggested, not wanting the night to end just because Helen had ruined the meal.

She shook her head no, but he refused to give up yet. She'd stood up to her mother for him, she'd called him good and honorable, and she seemed to finally have a valid reason for ending things with Joe so that he was beginning to believe the cycle of on and off might finally be over. She's said it would be an honor for people to think they were together. It seemed wrong to want to celebrate while she was trying to curl up into herself, but from where he was standing, that disaster of a dinner had given him some of the best news he'd received in months.

He shifted his hand to grab the door handle from behind her and opened it so she could climb in. Working hard to keep the smile off his face, he jogged around the front of the car and slid into the driver's seat. A plan for the evening fell into place as he drove.

Five minutes into the trip, she seemed to realize he wasn't heading back to her apartment and asked, "Where are we going?"

"Drive-thru." He pointed to the golden arches down the street.

"You're going to McDonald's..." She didn't appear to believe him until he pulled in.

He placed an order for two Quarter Pound Cheeseburger meals, a side salad, a large chocolate milkshake, and two apple pies and pulled around to the pick-up window. Stealing glances beside him, he could see her lips barely moving and wished she'd think a little louder so he could hear it.

After he pulled back out on the street, she spoke up. "You're going to eat McDonald's? What about your body being a temple?"

"I'm having fruit in the pie, vegetables in the salad, and a form of protein in what they call a burger. I'll run an extra mile tomorrow and call it even," he explained.

"Never thought I'd see you eat a greasy cheeseburger," she mumbled when they arrived at her apartment. "Did my mother's outburst do something to you?"

It gave him hope, but he held that comment back, not wanting to push too much tonight. "You wanted comfort food, and she ruined a meal that usually provided that. I want to give you comfort, so I'm getting the next best meal for that purpose and sharing it with you in the hope I can meet that need."

"You weren't kidding when you said you'd give me anything, were you?" She might have been teasing, but he didn't find anything in that question humorous.

"Babe, you have no idea what I'm prepared to give you," he told her before grabbing the food and getting out of the car. He decided to let her stew on that for a while to see if she could find some more of the courage that allowed her to stand up to her mother, so maybe she would ask him what it was supposed to mean.

He was usually opposed to being questioned about his motives, but if she could come up with the right question, he might finally be in a position to give her the answer she needed to hear.


	10. Some Progress

_I'm using JE's creation in the characters below._

_Jenny (JenRar) thank you for trying to keep me straight as the beta on this story._

**Chapter 10 - Some Progress**

Stephanie was convinced she was dreaming. That was the only way to explain being in her apartment with a mouthful of a McDonald's cheeseburger that she was about to wash down with a chocolate milkshake while Ranger told her about his most recent phone conversation with his daughter, Julie.

"So now I have to try to forget that she's not only old enough to be interested in boys, but they apparently have an interest in her too."

"Oh come on," Stephanie tried to talk around the food in her mouth. "Why try to forget it? You should be happy she's such a cool girl that everybody wants to be around her."

"Rachel refuses to let me increase her security detail or include scaring off teenage boys as one of their assigned duties," he complained.

It was so hard to reconcile the open way he was talking and eating junk food with the man who was usually so tight-lipped and buttoned up.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked.

She shook her head and looked down at her fries before deciding that if this was a dream, it was a great one, so she was going to see if she could get more information from him. "You're usually so quiet, and I can't figure out why you're being so forthcoming."

He seemed confused by her comment briefly and paused before answering. "You knew about Julie long before most other people in Trenton did."

"That was a black and white detail, not how you felt about something relating to her," Stephanie clarified.

"Did you think I didn't have emotions?"

"I knew you did. I just assumed you never shared them out loud so they couldn't be used as a weapon against you," she explained honestly.

"Interesting." He looked over her head and seemed to be considering her response. "It's true that I usually hold them back, because once they are spoken aloud, you can't easily deny them."

"Why would you want to deny your feelings?" She didn't understand.

"Depending on who hears you, it can be giving information to the enemy, Babe."

"Have I been the enemy?" She tried not to smile at the question, even though the idea of her having the ability to somehow hurt Ranger was laughable to her.

"Not my enemy, but of all the people in the world, you are the one with the ability to cut me the deepest if you tried to," he answered.

"You know I'd never hurt you," Stephanie quickly defended. "At least, not on purpose."

Before he could answer or explain, his attention was diverted by his cell phone. He looked at the screen and sighed…a real, honest-to-goodness audible gust of air that spoke of disappointment more than any long sentences could have managed. Stephanie knew exactly what he was about to say and decided to beat him to it so he could see what it was like to have someone ESP your thoughts.

"Break-in or skip?" she asked, trying to keep from being smug.

"Skip," he responded with a hint of a grin. "I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to cut our evening short."

"That's okay," she answered, before amending her answer slightly. "Leave the apple pies, and we'll call it even."

"You mean I can be replaced with a little cinnamon and sugar?" he teased, tossing his trash in the take-out bag from which it came.

"Nothing can take your place, but if I can't have you, then I'll settle for something hot, sticky, and sweet as a runner-up."

Ranger laughed out loud, the sound bouncing off the walls and creating the most wonderfully melodious effect in her ears. In all the time they'd spent together over the past few years, she'd never felt his happiness as tangibly as she just did. The last time she'd heard him laugh had been when she told him about her and Morelli calling it quits. There was something different about it this time, or maybe she was different somehow, and she knew down deep that he wasn't laughing at her. He was genuinely happy. It looked good on him, and she wished there was a way to keep that look on his face.

She stood up and walked him to the door, determined to not show her disappointment in the evening ending. "Thanks for tonight."

"You were amazing at dinner," he told her.

"I'm sorry about my mom," she replied, apologizing again for what she saw as the complete disaster of a dinner. She still couldn't believe her mother had been so rude to a guest. Even if it was how she'd always felt, Stephanie assumed the rules of manners in the 'Burg would have prevented anything like that from happening.

Ranger put his index finger under Stephanie's chin and lifted until she was looking him in the eye. "I'm proud of you, Babe."

She shivered at his words and realized that she'd missed hearing that phrase so much over the last few weeks. The distance that had grown between them seemed to have been eviscerated by her outburst at her mother, and even though she was still furious at her mom, there was a small piece of her that was grateful for that tragedy of a meal as well.

Ranger looked down at Stephanie's lips and moved closer. She could feel the same pull she always felt between them when they were together and wanted to close the distance and press her lips to his, but she also didn't want to lose the feeling of sparks moving between them. Before she could decide what to do, he blinked and then pressed his lips to her forehead, drawing in a deep breath before he pulled back.

"Lock the door behind me," he demanded, his voice still gentle.

"Don't get shot," she tried to threaten in return, but her voice lacked any heat to back up her meaning.

"Good night, Babe," he told her before pulling back and walking away.

She stood at the door, not moving for a few long moments. The sound of an incoming text on her cell phone broke the trance she'd been in.

She picked up her phone and saw a single message waiting from the number marked "Batman." She was convinced she was somehow in the twilight zone now, because in all the time they'd known each other, she couldn't remember ever receiving a text message from him.

_Continuing to stand in the doorway means it's not locked. Don't go crazy._

There might have been a fleeting moment tonight where she'd thought she had ESP, but he was proving that she still didn't have anything on him. Feeling particularly immature, she poked her tongue out at the phone and then moved back to shut the door and lock it. She knew the locks at her apartment provided only minimal protection, but it was still better than nothing.

While trying to figure out how he knew she was standing in the doorway, her phone rang and she quickly answered it by saying, "All right, smartass. I've locked the door."

Unfortunately, she'd answered before looking at caller ID, so the voice in return wasn't what she expected. "I'm glad to hear you're taking your safety seriously, but that's not why I'm calling."

She covered her mouth with her hand, unsure how she'd managed to go from such a wonderful moment to complete embarrassment in less than a second. After tapping her forehead with her phone in an attempt to beat the lesson in so that she wouldn't talk without knowing who she was talking to, she uncovered her mouth and said, "I'm so sorry. I thought it was someone else."

"It's Cal," he said, giving her the information she needed. "Is this a bad time? There was a knocking sound."

"No, everything is fine," she lied, glad he couldn't see her through the phone. "What can I do for you?"

"I need some help shopping," he began, sounding as embarrassed as she felt.

This was exactly the kind of distraction she needed to quit thinking about how she'd answered the phone. Of course, it was also one of those rare opportunities to do something for one of the guys she adored who had done so much for her, and it made the evening still feel like she was dreaming. "What kind of shopping?"

"Did you know that some of us guys own a lake house?" he asked, changing the subject.

"No, I didn't," she answered. "I thought you all lived in the building."

"That's where we live, sure," he agreed, "but some of us pooled our money and bought a place where we could get away when life in general gets to be too much for us."

"Wow. That's great to have a place where you can get away," she agreed, always loving it when the guys shared about themselves with her. She was a little confused about what that had to do with shopping, but she would give him the benefit of the doubt and wait to see what he said next.

"I went there last week and realized that I love being at the lake, but I hate sleeping there because my room is…white." It seemed like he was trying to explain something to her, but his words didn't make much sense. "Maybe that's not the right word. It's bland—boring."

"Do you want to spice it up?" she wondered.

"I just want to make it more me so it feels like a place I can really be comfortable. Until then, I may as well just own some lakefront land and not bother with the upkeep on a house because I never use it."

"How does me helping you shop fit in?"

"I wondered if you might be free to go to the lake house with me and get a feel for the place, then go to the…mall…with me to buy some things to make the room feel more like home." He seemed to struggle with the idea of going to the mall, but other than his obvious distaste for the idea of shopping, it sounded like something she would love to do.

"When do we leave?" She was finally being given a chance to say thank you to one of the guys who had supported her. The fact that this was something she could enjoy was like gravy. Thinking of gravy made her remember dinner at her parents' house and how she'd tried to put her mother in her place for daring to insult Ranger. Even though he would have been completely within his rights to never speak to her again, he'd taken her to McDonald's and bought her dessert. Her eyes fell to the pies she insisted he leave behind, and even without taking a bite, she knew nothing would ever be as sweet as that dessert was going to be.

"…does that work?" Apparently while she was daydreaming about apple pie, Cal had continued to talk.

"I'm sorry, what?" Stephanie hated admitting she'd not been listening. It was rude, and just because she had told off her mother and said she'd never go back didn't mean the 'Burg wasn't still a part of who she was.

"If you'd rather, I can pick you up at 0700 tomorrow, but I figured for you get the full feel of the place, you might rather go tonight and stay there, and then we could discuss what we needed to pick up the next day from the mall."

"It's…" Steph leaned to look at the clock on her microwave and realized it was blinking a series of zeros at her. The power must have gone off at some point. "What time is it?"

"Twenty-one hundred hours," he answered efficiently, still not telling her the time of day.

"Tell me what time you'd be here and don't use a phrase that requires you to say the word hours," she teased, hoping he'd give her a real time.

"If I leave now, I can be there just before ten o'clock, which would put us at the lake house at ten thirty. I know that's late, but the alternative is a really early start tomorrow." He was almost pleading.

"Come on over. I'll grab an overnight bag, and we can get down there tonight," she agreed. "But for the record, if you attempt to wake me up at any point prior to eight o'clock, I'll prove to you that I can be lethal even without a gun."

"Yes, ma'am."

He was laughing, but she was giving him the benefit of the doubt that he considered what she'd just said a joke. Little did he know, she didn't find anything funny about being awakened before she was ready. The least he could do was let her sleep in…and a donut wouldn't go amiss either, especially if he was going to keep her up tonight.

"Hey, Cal," she called, hoping he hadn't hung up already. When he made a sound, she took that as him encouraging her to continue talking. "If you call me ma'am again, I'll find a way to draw a body—including big boobs—on your tattoo."

"Yes ma'—" He stopped himself just barely in time. "Yes, m' lady, I believe we have an understanding."

She disconnected the call to give somebody from RangeMan a taste of their own medicine and because she didn't want him to hear her laughing at his correction. It wasn't exactly what she'd hoped for, but it was funny enough that she was willing to accept it.

It had been a while since they'd loaded a skip, piss-ridden and not bleeding, into the car. Either this one was even more of a pussy than normal, or the four of them had descended in such perfectly choreographed precision that the skip was convinced the world was ending even without them laying a hand on him.

"I've got Zip and Zero hauling him to the TPD," Tank announced, wondering who would mention the fact that something was different tonight.

"Is it just me," Les began, reminding Tank that Santos was the talker of their group for a reason, "or was that twice as much fun as usual?"

"Yeah, he had all the elements that usually requires all of us, but it was like the old days when we first started up and had to work as a unit all the time to make it work," Bobby chimed in.

Tank looked at Ranger, and even without him saying a word, the fact that he was smiling meant that not only did he agree and understand what the guys were talking about, but something that had been weighing him down had shifted away. He finally looked relaxed—happy, almost.

"You two doing all right?" Ranger kept his tone light, but there was no doubt what he was referring to.

"It's all good."

Les had spoken quickly enough that Tank's curiosity was piqued. It typically took Brown and Santos a few weeks to get back in the groove after October first. It had only been a day, and they were completely in control and socializing.

"She helps, doesn't she?" Ranger spoke again.

Tank knew he was referring to Stephanie. The way he was so casual in talking about her made Tank believe he might not get called to the mats for putting Ranger's woman in harm's way. He'd gone back and forth about the stupidity of sending her downstairs with a drunk Lester and Bobby. He knew they'd never hurt her intentionally, but they dealt with some old and deep shit on that night, and it could have easily turned on her, even without them wanting it to.

"She's got a way of cutting through everything to get at the truth," Bobby agreed, putting his hand on Lester's neck and squeezing before letting go.

It wasn't that Tank was surprised that they'd touch each other; he was just shocked that something had shifted between them that would allow for that kind of no-nonsense affection publicly. The last time he'd seem them behave that way, Frankie had been alive.

"And having her sleep with us—" Les began, before Tank found himself involuntarily stepping in front of Ranger to keep him from attacking the man who'd been talking.

"You don't want to complete that sentence, no matter how innocent it might have been," Tank warned. He didn't have any details about what had happened on October first, but he knew that Les wouldn't be talking about it with a smile on his face if they'd actually screwed her. Hopefully Ranger would take the black screen of Tank's back and use it to reset his pissed off switch, because he knew without a doubt that Santos was just one more word away from the bossman laying him out in the middle of the street.

"He didn't mean it like that," Bobby quickly tried to soften his partner's words.

"Don't matter," Tank corrected. "That's Stephanie he was talking about, and she deserves a little more respect, no matter how he intended to finish the sentence."

"All right, man, you're right," Les began, lifting his hands in the air.

Ranger stepped around the wall in front of him to see all his men once more. "I'm glad she could help," he spoke, obviously holding back a little to get the words out. "But the next time I find her practically underneath the two of you in your bed, you won't wake up to see the sunrise."

"Understood," Bobby quickly agreed, grabbing Les by the back of his T-shirt and pulling him toward the SUV they'd driven up in. "We'll think on that and can assure you that you will not find us on top of her again."

Ranger nodded and let them leave.

Tank waited until the guys were gone to ask, "They were on top of her, and you didn't wake 'em up to beat the shit of out of 'em? You going soft?"

"She told me not to," he explained before rubbing his abs at the bottom of his ribs. "But based on what I actually ate for dinner, that going soft comment might not be so far off."

Tank followed Ranger to their truck and climbed in before asking, "You going to explain that?"

"I'm not taking you to the mats for setting up that fucked-up idea of putting her in Bobby's apartment on October first," he replied, taking off toward Haywood. "That's all you're getting on the subject."

Tank wondered how late Mary Lou stayed up, because he had a feeling something had gotten through to Ranger to have shifted his attitude in less than twenty-four hours. If their plan was working this quickly, then she'd probably want to know so she could pull back any other members of the army from acting.


	11. The Sound of Understanding

_JE created these characters, not me. _

_Jenny (JenRar) thank you for keeping me straight as the beta on this story. _

**Chapter 11- The Sound of Understanding**

"God, Cal, this place is gorgeous." Stephanie was practically open mouthed as she took in the lake house. "If I owned a place like this, I'd never leave."

He knew her opinion would only grow stronger the next day when she could see out the windows at the back that overlooked the water. "Ranger had a designer do all the common areas, so the way it looks out here is all because a professional did it. We had our rooms all set up the same in white because it was the opposite of all the black we see at the office, and then we agreed we could each update our own spaces however we wanted."

They walked through the rooms on the second floor, with Cal opening each one and allowing her to step inside and guess who owned them based on the décor. Lester's was easy because of the shelf of porn next to the television. She commented that had to be his because his apartment at RangeMan had the same college frat boy look.

Bobby's room was next and was a bit of a no-brainer because it was covered with posters breaking down the human anatomy by system.

The next door was Tank's, which she guessed easily because of the collage of pictures of all his cats over the years.

When she walked into the room across the hall, she blinked several times. "Okay, I get what you meant about white. I've seen hospital rooms less sterile than this."

Cal looked at the bare white walls, white bedding, and white curtains and realized it looked like a marshmallow exploded.

"I think we can work with this pretty easily," she continued.

He hoped she was right.

"Here." He held out his hand as an invitation to the last room and opened the door to the master suite.

It was nearly twice the size of the other rooms, and only the walls remained neutral in color. The bedspread was a fluffy deep blue with throw pillows that were patterns with various shades, ranging from gray to navy. The windows had some sheer curtains tinted faintly with sapphire, and there were framed pictures all over the dresser and bedside tables.

"You can stay in here tonight."

"Whose room is this?" she wondered, not stepping in as she had with the others.

"It's Ranger's," he answered, not sure how she couldn't have guessed that.

A couple of years ago, the boss had thrown out all the black that used to cover the room and replaced it with an experiment in blue. Somebody asked him why the shift in color scheme, and he'd only offered, "It's the color I most want in my bed," and shrugged it off. It wasn't until Lester suggested that it was because Stephanie had blue eyes that he was maybe hinting about something with her. The next time Cal came to the house, he did the usual security sweep through the place and realized Ranger had covered all the horizontal surfaces with pictures as well. There were several of his daughter, and a couple of family snapshots, but all the rest were of Stephanie. He knew some new ones had arrived since the initial redecoration, but when he counted that day, there were five pictures of his family, three pictures of the guys, and eighteen snapshots of Stephanie.

She had yet to walk into the room and had a far-away expression on her face, so Cal decided to try getting his hard part over with that night instead of waiting until the morning. Hopefully, after hearing what he was going to share and then spending the night in a room that was all but a shrine to her, she would realize how Ranger really felt for her.

"I know it's dark, but I have a lantern we can carry with us if we want to sit out on the dock and listen to the water for a bit," he offered, hoping that by being in the dark, it would make talking easier for him.

"That's great," she quickly agreed, almost like she was relieved to be getting away from the room.

He guided her back downstairs, picked up the old oil lantern, and lit it before opening the back doors and taking her hand so she didn't somehow manage to fall off the narrow dock and into the water. It wasn't so cold that hypothermia would be an immediate issue, but he didn't think she'd appreciate taking a dunk in the lake either. When they got to the end, he sat down on the wood and patted the spot next to him.

Accepting his invitation, she sat as close to him as she could get and leaned against his side. It was nice to have someone so comfortable around him, and once again, he marveled at how wonderful she was to just accept the guys and trust them so completely that she'd close her eyes and sit in the dark alone with a guy who had Special Forces training and a flaming skull on his forehead.

"What made you guys decided to get this place?" she asked, giving him the perfect opening to share the information he thought she needed to hear.

"A few years back, I got called for a mission to lead a team of Seals in for an extraction of an Army Ranger that had been captured by enemy forces and was being held in an attempt to make our government negotiate for his release. Uncle Sam doesn't negotiate in times like that. I mean, as important as each citizen is, one of us alone isn't worth the good of the whole nation. But in the military, we have certain codes that allow us to operate a little differently. We might refuse to negotiate, but that doesn't mean we won't act at all, so I got the call to go in and get this guy home."

He looked up and saw the starts of Orion's belt, following them up to identify the rest of the hunter in his protective glory above them. "It didn't go well," he finally continued. He refused to give her the details, but he knew he needed to explain some. "It was like the rebels had advance warning of our deployment and knew our every move. My team of twelve was reduced to four within thirty minutes of landing on the shore. I never understood how they had so many freaking munitions. They'd mined the beach so that we couldn't run for safety past the sand without risking setting off the charges, but we couldn't go back to the water once they knew we were there or we'd be sitting ducks."

"Rock and a hard place," she summed up, moving her head to rest it on his shoulder.

"I had no choice but to give the order to run for the tree line, which was how we lost so many of us in such a short period." He tried not to picture it, because he'd done so much work to move beyond the damage that mission had done to him.

Once he felt like he'd closed the memories up partially, he began once more. "After we got to the tree line, our advantage began to grow, because even though they might have had more firepower, they didn't have the training or skill, so we were able to take them out enough that getting to our man was possible. Three days later, he was back on U.S. soil and I was on my way back here.

"RangeMan policy forces us all to take a few days off when we return from a mission involving direct combat, so I knew I was stuck without anything constructive to do for a while."

"What did you do on for your vacation?" Stephanie asked when he paused.

A chuckle was his first response, then he swallowed a few times forcing himself to keep going. "I fell apart. I couldn't sleep the first night, so I was exhausted. Then the next morning, every time a door slammed, I was jolted and getting punchier by the minute. I decided to take a break and get out of the building, so I took a run in the park off Emerson. Every car door shutting made me looking around for an enemy, but the truck that backfired had me freaking out, reliving the sound of those mines exploding. The screams of the children on the carousel quickly because the battle cries and then agonized death moans of the men I'd swam in with. It was too much, and even though some piece of my mind knew I was safe, the rest of my head was still on that beach under attack."

At some point during his story, Stephanie shifted so that her legs were across his and her arm was rubbing his shoulder. Cal wrapped his arms around her and pulled her completely into his lap, figuring it would be more comfortable for both of them, and he did suddenly feel the need to hold onto something, just to know he wasn't alone under the big dark sky.

"I got back to RangeMan and went to the gym. By then, I was jumping at almost every sound, so the clacking of the weights against their bars and thumping of somebody on the punching bag was only making me worse. I guess I froze in the middle of the gym, not moving, so Les came up and slapped me on the back, but because I was out of it, I didn't know he was there and I just reacted. I spun around punching. I got a few good licks in before Les was up to speed, but he had the good sense to just defend against my attack to keep himself safe without spooking me further by fighting back."

"What happened then?" she asked, her voice filled with worry.

"Don't remember." He hated admitting this part. "I guess Ranger came in and tried to talk me back down, but I couldn't hear him, so they got Bobby down there, and he hit me with something to knock me out. When I came to, I was in the infirmary, with Bobby right beside my bed. He got right down in my face so I could see it was him, and he explained about my freak out in the gym, so I went ahead and admitted that was just the end of it and shared my day in the park after my night and morning in the building. We talked about PTSD, and even though I knew he was right, admitting that it applied to me wasn't something I could do right then."

Stephanie readjusted her head on his chest, tickling him with some of the wild curls. It was wonderful to feel someone close to him again, and he realized it had been a long time since he'd had this kind of close feeling with another person.

"A week later, I was a man on the edge, so Ranger came to see me and insisted I talk to a friend of his named Mac. He said the guy had helped him a few times after some of his worst missions, and he wanted me to give him a chance. I told him I'd be willing to do it and signed something saying the doc could share anything with Ranger that might be helpful for him to make accommodations for me during my treatment." He paused and shook his head before adding, "I've never felt like less of a man than I did in that moment."

"Oh, Cal, you can't say that," she pulled back to argue.

He missed her against him and was glad to honestly tell her, "I know that's not true now, but at the moment, it's where I was at."

Thankfully, she settled back down so he could get to the part that she needed to hear.

"The doc told Ranger my treatment could move faster if I had a place removed from the office, where I could relax in some peace and quiet, but still close enough that I didn't feel detached completely from RangeMan. I guess he indicated to Ranger that it wouldn't do him any harm to have a place like that either, so Ranger talked to the core team, and they came down to my apartment and asked me to take a trip with them. We probably looked like clowns in a car all piling into an SUV, but riding all together helped me to keep in mind that I had plenty of backup and wasn't in any danger, so I went along with them.

"Ranger brought us here and showed us this house he'd found that he wanted us to purchase to have a real retreat for when we returned from missions. The first thing I noticed was that it didn't have any surprising noises, just the steady cadence of crickets chirping or birds singing and the water lapping on the shore. It wasn't so quiet that your mind was on edge waiting for something to happen, but there was no one else out here to jar me with sudden sounds. We signed the papers to buy it the next day, and I stayed here for three weeks getting my head back on straight.

"During that time, Ranger came down every day and brought me some work to do on the computer. Nobody likes searches and background checks, but they have to be done, and it allowed me to have some purpose to my day to feel like I was paying him back for the house and for not firing me for being a danger to myself and the rest of the men at RangeMan. After the first week, he came down and suggested I swim. When I looked uncertain, he barked out an order, stripped down, and had me running to the dock by his side and leaping in behind him. After lapping the lake a few times, I felt my mind beginning to ease. My muscles were tired, but I was relaxing for the first time since I'd been called up for duty. Every day, he checked on me, giving me orders that I simply followed out of respect for his authority, or giving me work so I didn't feel like a leech, and after a while, I could feel myself stepping out of the fog and back into myself."

A branch snapped in the distance, probably a deer pushing against some underbrush. Cal felt himself tighten up and took a few deep breaths while willing his body to relax once more. He was better, probably as good as he'd ever get, but that didn't mean he was symptom free.

"Ranger never gave up on me, even though he absolutely could have. He poured his money into buying a house so I'd have a place to escape, and then he gave up time that he most certainly needed to do other things in order to come check on me every day. He could have sent the other guys, but he came instead, allowing me to keep my pride in front of the men I worked with. The day I told him I thought I was ready to go back, he told me this was my house too and that I should come back anytime I needed a break from Trenton. Then he told me he planned on coming down often himself, and for the first time, I saw Ranger as a man instead of just a brilliant unstoppable machine. I tried to thank him, but he put an end to that before I could get very far. Told me I was part of the family and that every family needed a home, and then he walked away."

"He's good like that," Stephanie agreed softly. "So generous you hardly know what to think…what he expects in return."

"He expects you to accept it in return and that's all," Cal assured her, knowing it was true. "He never gives out of a desire to get something back."

"Unless he makes a deal about it first," she mumbled.

"I'm not sure about deals with Ranger..." Cal was confused, but didn't want her to think he wasn't listening to her comments.

She jerked around, as though his reply had surprised her. She probably hadn't intended to say that aloud.

"If this place holds such good memories, why do you want to update your room?" she asked, changing the subject quickly.

"The white was helpful back then, but now it just reminds me of a time when my head was blank except for the memories. It's time to make this place about being a home and less about being an escape for when I'm broken. I figure if I claim it instead of hiding it, then coming here will be more of a retreat than an admission that I'm slipping in some way."

"Oh, Cal." She shifted again and put both her arms around him, hugging him tightly.

He was in tune with pity, and he didn't really feel like that's what she was expressing. In fact, the way she was clinging to him and moving her body in an attempt to eliminate any distance between them was about to make it embarrassing to have her in his lap.

"In case you didn't realize it, I think you are simply wonderful, exactly as you are."

They spent another couple of hours talking in the dark under the stars, with her in his lap, holding him tightly. It had been a long time since he'd felt this important, but the way she gave him her full attention and responded to everything he said was a big boost for his ego. Maybe it was time for him to get out there again and see if there was a woman who didn't like loud noises, loved the water, and really dug tattoos. Mac would approve, and when he pushed about what caused the change in heart, he could tell the shrink about the woman in his arms, although, knowing the number of guys who went to see him on a regular basis, something told Cal he'd already heard about the heart of RangeMan.

The next morning, Stephanie woke up slowly and stretched against the sheets, loving their luxurious feel. It was like being on seven at Haywood, but with blue around instead of black everywhere. She smiled when she thought about the evening she'd spent with Cal. Never would she ever have guessed what he struggled with, and she admired him all the more for being brave enough to share it with her.

She knew that Cal had promised not to wake her up, but she thought she remembered him mentioning an afternoon shift, so as much as she wanted to stay right where she was, she needed to respect his schedule and get up. As she sat on the side of the bed, she took a moment to really look at the room. It was beautiful, and from the moment she stepped in, she'd felt at home here. The frame closest to the bed held a picture of her, probably taken after a distraction, based on the near lack of clothing she was wearing. The picture behind that one was of Ranger and Stephanie dancing at a club. They looked completely lost in their own little world. The final picture there was a close-up of Stephanie laughing, with her head back and her hair blowing behind her from the wind.

Jumping out of the bed, she moved to the dresser and saw a few pictures of other people she didn't recognize and a couple of Julie, but overwhelmingly, most of the pictures were of her. When had he gotten these? Where had they come from? And why did he have them in a place he'd told Cal was a home for him too?

By far, Ranger had to be the most infuriatingly confusing man she'd ever met. This was the kind of thing she'd expect a man in love with a woman to do, but he'd told her many times that he couldn't do a real relationship, and he'd qualified his love so many different ways that she wasn't sure what I love you even meant when he said it anymore. If she only went off what he said, then he wasn't relationship material. If that was true, then he might be the freakiest stalker she'd ever had. But the guys had been giving her example after example this week of how you had to listen to Ranger's actions, not his words. If she did that, then he adored her in a way most women were never fortunate enough to experience.

She surprised Cal by suggesting they go to a home goods store instead of the mall, and after only twenty minutes in there, they'd found him a lovely comforter with a muted green pattern to it for his bed and some matching throw pillows. He wasn't entirely sold on the need for extra pillows, but she assured him they were a must have. There were also some linen curtains in a tan, and a picture for his big wall that was a nature scene in the woods with light filtering down through the leaves. She was convinced it would look great in the room and that it would be both peaceful and homey for Cal.

They said goodbye in the parking lot of her apartment. He'd offered to go up and clear her apartment for her, but she knew he was in a hurry, and after spending so much time with people lately, she suddenly felt the need to have a little time alone in her own home.

She felt like all the stories the guys had shared with her lately were allowing her to see Ranger in a way she never had. His actions toward his men were very similar to how he'd treated her. This new side of him on top of how he'd acted at dinner the night before with her family had given her a lot of food for thought, and she was suddenly eager to cut herself off from the world and try to figure out the man of mystery. While she was at it, she might try to come up with a solution to world hunger or how to make peace in the Middle East...

She shut her door and carefully locked it, dropping her purse on the floor so it would be there when she was ready to leave the next time, and then went to say hello to Rex. While she was tapping on the glass, waiting to see if he'd honor her with his presence and come out of his soup can, she felt something pinch her neck, and she swung around quickly to see if someone was there.

A large man, entirely too portly to have been silent enough to sneak up on her, was there, smiling. "Don't worry; I'm not here to hurt you. This is for your own good."

He might have intended his words to be reassuring, but the fact that a stranger was in her apartment and holding a hypodermic needle took away any comfort she might have found in his assurances.

Before she could ask who he was and what he wanted, the edges of her vision began to grow cloudy, and then everything went black. She wished she had Cal's lantern, because it had cast enough light the night before that she hadn't been frightened, and not being able to see anything in the middle of the day was scary. Of course, having his lantern would mean she'd have Cal too, and if she'd just let him come up and clear her apartment, this wouldn't have happened.

She opened her mouth to call out for help, but only one word came out…"Ranger."


	12. Gone

_I did not create the characters below. JE gets that honor._

_Jenny (JenRar) I can't imagine not having your help in getting a chapter ready to post. Your attention to catch all the things I miss is invaluable._

**Chapter 12 - Gone!**

Ranger had tried to stick with his routine, but the longer the day went on, the harder it was to stay focused. He didn't want to scare Stephanie off by hovering, but he'd been disappointed each time the elevator opened and the person who stepped off was one of his men instead of the woman he most wanted to see.

He'd gotten through his workout in the gym, and even sparred with a couple of the younger guys to assess their strengths. It was good to know that the quality of recruits they were attracting lately was still up to the RangeMan standard. It was also good to know that despite their youth and recent training, they still weren't better than him. He figured when his new guys were able to take him down on the mats, that it would be time to look at pulling back in the field. He wasn't ready for a reduction in action yet, so it started his day off right to know it definitely wasn't time to begin thinking about it.

After that, he'd tried to do all his paperwork so that he could time his visit to Vinnie's office late enough that it would increase the chances of seeing Stephanie there. He'd decided after hearing her stand up to her mother for him and her claim that it would be an honor to be with him, that he was going to start applying a little pressure to see how she'd respond. Since their night had been cut short the day before because of his call into the field, he was anxious to pick up where they'd left off.

He opened the door and held back a laugh as Connie jerked around, causing half of a doughnut to fall right into her shirt between her overly ample tits. He figured that part of her body was a lot like the Bermuda Triangle and lots of things got lost in there, never to be seen again. He glanced up at Vinnie's door in an attempt to keep his straight face. Nothing made his blank face effective more than revulsion, and there were few things he found as repulsive as Vinnie Plum. Feeling like he was on top of his blank face again, he looked at Lula and Connie and asked, "Any files for RangeMan?"

"Just two." Connie gave up the search for the second half of the sugary confection that had broken off and was no doubt sprinkling powdered sugar all over her chest. She moved a few piles of papers and then held out the two folders she'd mentioned.

Ranger reached out for them and was surprised when Connie didn't let go.

"You seen Stephanie lately?"

Connie was an interesting woman. She was equal parts brash Italian and smart, observant woman. Her connections to the mob were known and not something she ever tried to deny, but she never seemed to abuse them, either. People knew she wasn't to be fucked with, because she had the full backing of her Family. But before the Family could get involved, she was more than capable of following through on her own threats. He had long respected her ability to run the bonds office, keep Vinnie on the right side of the law, and provide helpful information when she thought it would be beneficial. The years they had worked together had taught him that Connie didn't do subtle. Neither did she do unnecessary. The question, while slightly annoying because it was crossing into his personal life, was one he knew he couldn't refuse to respond to.

"Took her to dinner at her parents' house last night and then spent a couple of hours with her after," he affirmed, pleased that she released the folder once he'd answered.

"How's my girl doing?" Lula jumped in while Connie seemed to be studying him for some reason.

The last time he'd seen that look on Connie's face, she was trying to decide if she should tell her Uncle about Vinnie installing a camera under her desk, angled to look up her skirt, or just replace Vinnie's Gold Bond with a high-powered itch powder.

Not sure he wanted to know what evil thing Connie might be planning now, he turned to Lula and realized her doughnut had probably been eaten without losing any of it, based on the amount of powdered sugar evenly dusting the purple spandex stretched across her chest.

"She was fine last night."

Lula narrowed her eyes, and he briefly wondered what she was looking for. He knew better than to underestimate her. Their last conversation had taught him that. "We'll see if you can deliver on the all the hype that you can do the impossible," she finally said. "If you that good, she'll come by later."

When Lula spoke, Connie quickly jerked her head around to stare at the woman to her left. He was uncertain what that response was all about, but he knew he wasn't interested in being grilled anymore, either. And since there was still an open box of doughnuts on the desk, he figured they'd be just as happy to see him go.

"Ladies." He tilted his head before leaving to climb in the SUV in front of the door.

He glanced in before pulling out of the parking lot and saw Connie stick her hand down her shirt to retrieve the missing part of her morning snack and Lula fanning herself with a folder. There was no doubt about it: Stephanie had an interesting group of friends.

Normally after a stop by Vinnie's, he went back to Haywood and turned the files over for research, but without consciously deciding to do it, he found himself heading toward Stephanie's apartment. It was late enough that she should be awake, and even if she was still in bed for some reason, he knew he'd enjoy waking her.

He stopped at the Tasty Pastry and picked up half a dozen of the Boston Crème doughnuts she seemed to think was a foundation of her food pyramid. Laughing at himself, he shrugged and rationalized that it was all about knowing your audience. He could have picked up flowers, but Stephanie wasn't exactly a flowers kind of girl. She never failed to appreciate the thought behind her favorite doughnut, though.

Her car was still next to the dumpster when he pulled into the parking lot. He wondered why she didn't park closer to the door, since there always seemed to be spaces available when he stopped by. Maybe she left them open for the older people who lived there and struggled to walk. That would be just like her—always thinking of other people's need ahead of her own. Of course, it was also possible that she was wishing the dumpster would somehow end up on top of her car so she could get rid of it and have the insurance money to buy a new one. It would be her luck that when she needed her car to be reliable, something would happen, but when she wished for a catastrophe, the fates wouldn't intervene on her behalf.

Picking up the box of doughnuts, he took the stairs up to see her. The second he reached her floor, he dropped the box, no longer caring about the treats he'd purchased for her. Stephanie's door was open and the lights were off. He pulled the Glock from the holster at his waist and approached slowly, listening for anything that could indicate why her door was ajar. Her locks might be useless, but they'd never failed to keep the door closed.

He moved into the doorway and did a quick search of the entranceway, only to see the apartment empty. Methodically, he secured each room, not finding a trace of her or anyone else in the living room, the kitchen, the bathroom, or her bedroom. Putting his gun away, he went back through the apartment more slowly, looking for anything that could answer where she was and why she'd left with her door gaping.

At the entranceway, he saw her purse, which ruled out her going somewhere with a friend and forgetting to shut the door. She might forget her gun most days, but she never forgot her purse, because it contained what she called her essentials, like hairspray, candy bars, and a spare makeup kit. He slipped on gloves, listening to the little voice that told him to preserve the apartment exactly as he'd found it in case it needed to be opened as a crime scene. Her wallet was inside, as were all the usual provisions. He moved to the kitchen and saw that her rodent still on the counter. Rex came out of his can and twitched his whiskers in Ranger's direction.

When his eyes fell to the floor near where he was standing, he pulled out his cell phone and called his number two.

"Yo." Tank's deep voice was always the same. There was a certain comfort in that.

"Get to Stephanie's five minutes ago, and bring Brown, Santos, Hector, and Hal."

"Leaving now," Tank said over the sound of shuffling in the background, letting Ranger know his orders were being followed. "What do I need to be prepared for?"

"Armageddon," Ranger answered, before adding, "Somebody's taken Stephanie, so you need to come prepared to help me bring hell on earth to whoever dared to hurt what's mine."

The mood in the SUV was beyond tense. Tank had a vein sticking out on his neck. Hal was looking over his tool kit for the third time to be sure he had every crime scene investigation tool at the ready. Bobby was staring into the medical bag, although the limited briefing from Tank had implied that Stephanie wasn't there, so his primary skills weren't what he really needed to bring. Lester was rubbing down his Glock, checking the action and then rubbing it down again. Strangely, Hector found the repeating sound soothing, instead of nerve-racking like he usually would.

Not that he was much better. He had more blades strapped on him that he'd ever carried before. Throwing stars, switchblades, long knives, and arm blades all meant he could go through nearly twenty lives before he even needed to pause and retrieve a weapon to use a second time. The throwing stars were his favorites, and he slowly spun one around, loving the sharpness of the edges, knowing he had made them that way with hours of patient work on the cutting edge. He had lost one blue-eyed angel in his life already, and with God as his witness, he'd take the blood on his hands to keep from losing another.

They moved up the stairs as a unit and walked through the door to see Ranger, bent down and looking at the animal Stephanie kept in a cage in the kitchen.

"What's doin', Rangeman?" Tank called out.

Without speaking, Ranger simply lifted a gloved hand, which appeared to hold a syringe.

Hal and Bobby moved then and took it from Ranger, setting up a mini lab on the kitchen table to begin analysis. Fingerprints, chemical breakdown, DNA sampling—anything the TPD could run, Hal could manage twice as fast. He wasn't Hector's type, but quiet competence was a particular kink of his, and watching Hal work was always fascinating.

"What else needs doing?" Tank moved closer to Ranger to ask.

The boss just shook his head, still engaged in some kind of silent stare-off with the little animal in the cage.

Tank held his position for another long moment before taking control. Hector knew that sometimes, Tank's job was to watch Ranger's back when he was running point, and on the few occasions when Ranger couldn't run the group, Tank was more than capable of stepping up and handing out orders.

"Santos, go through her bedroom and look for anything that might give us a clue about what happened," he began, before looking at Hector. "Is the camera you installed in the hall still active?"

"Si," he answered, pulling his bag around to grab his laptop to begin accessing the RangeMan system remotely for the footage.

For the next fifteen minutes, the apartment was silent except for the occasional sound of a drawer opening or typing on a laptop.

"I've got a hit," Hal announced suddenly.

"A person?" Tank asked eagerly.

"No, the compound she was injected with," he clarified, deflating the mood that had instantly jumped when he spoke.

"I'm on it," Brown spoke up, keying in the chemical makeup on the drug that had been in the syringe to see exactly what they'd done to Stephanie. "Fast-acting anesthetic…really strong too. Geez, if your estimate is right, then they gave her enough to knock out Tank. She'll be sick as a dog when she wakes up."

"How long 'til that happens?" Tank pushed, trying to get a complete picture.

"It depends on when they gave it to her." Bobby sat back, looking defeated to not be able to add more.

"Two hours ago," Hector spoke up, looking at his laptop and trying to freeze the image so he could get the face of the man in the picture. "Here."

Everyone crowded around the monitor, but the image was grainy, and whoever had gotten Stephanie was carrying her out bridal-style. Her head was falling back lifeless, and since the assailant was wearing a mask, it was impossible to get much of a read on his face.

"Get me something better than that," Tank barked out, knowing they couldn't get a full ID, but needing something to bring Ranger out of the trance he'd been in since they arrived.

"Bedroom looks untouched, but I think the perp came in through the fire escape. It's been jimmied open and wasn't shut completely, even though there no evidence of anyone being there. The bathroom was clean of prints too. Whoever this was isn't an amateur," Lester reported.

Ranger's phone rang, and he jerked upright and snapped it off his belt. As he listened silently to the caller, the color of his face lightened, but his eyes went to coal. Fury didn't come close to describing the vibe coming off him. Every man in the apartment, including Hector himself, stopped moving and turned to watch their leader.

When he was done listening, he glanced at his phone and then looked at Hector. "Pull that conversation."

Because he was already in the system, it didn't take Hector long to get the last call from Ranger's phone. Since Scrog, all the conversations on Ranger's phone were automatically recorded and saved to an area of the server that only Hector and Ranger had access to.

Hector turned his speakers up and clicked on the call, hoping whatever was in this recording would give them hope instead of continuing to frustrate them.

The voice had been modified, so it wouldn't be traceable. Still, it sounded male, and the cadence of the speaking made it sound as though the person was reading from a script, not speaking freely.

Mr. Manoso, I have something that I believe belongs to you. Despite what you might be thinking, I am not holding her for ransom, nor do I intend to hurt her in any way, as long as you follow my instructions exactly. I did not take her as a threat to you or to repay for something in the past. You will stop trying to identify me, and you will leave her apartment immediately. You will appear at the Wharf on Front Street at exactly nine o'clock tonight, and you will come alone. I will leave instructions on how you are to find the lovely Miss Plum at that time.

"Again," Ranger barked out, causing Hector to press play once more and try to listen for whatever had gotten Ranger's interest. After it completed the second time, silence filled the room.

"Does this asshole think you're just going to walk in there by yourself without backup?" Lester asked.

Ranger was glaring at the monitor. "I did not take her as a threat to you or to repay you for something in the past," he repeated. "Why did he take her?"

"Could be one of her skips," Bobby suggested.

"Then why return her?" Tank countered. "Why call Ranger at all if it only related to her?"

"Maybe he's just delivering a message and wanted to be sure Ranger didn't interfere before he finished his job," Hal offered, breaking his usual MO of staying silent unless specifically called upon.

"The moment he touched my woman, it became my job," Ranger growled, his teeth nearly clenched and his voice low and dangerous.

"Hit the streets and see what you can find out," Tank announced, basically ending their time in Stephanie's apartment.

Until they brought her home safe, there was nothing there now but a reminder that their angel had been taken from them. It was like trying to function in a coffin.

Hector doubted Stark held any clues, but he knew that when they were told to hit the streets, they each had an area that was theirs to cover. They tapped informants, went to the places where information was passed, and did whatever their respective reputations in the neighborhood would allow to get the word from the streets.

Tank drove silently back to RangeMan and stopped at the corner of Haywood so they could get out. Usually, he ran point when Ranger was personally involved, but Ranger had not left Stephanie's apartment, and Tank appeared to be in a hurry to leave the office himself. Just before the door closed, Tank called out to the men, "Call me immediately with any news, big or small. And don't stop searching, no matter what until we get that girl back."

Hector nodded once, agreeing with Tank as he climbed into one of the SUVs. He wouldn't stop searching until Estefania was home.


	13. Taking Back What's Mine

_None of the characters below are mine. Thanks JE!_

_Jenny (JenRar) thank you for your hard work and suggestions as the beta on this story!_

**Chapter 13 - Taking Back What's Mine**

Death would be an improvement over feeling like this. Stephanie's head hurt, her mouth felt like a cat had been treating it as a place that needed to be marked, and her stomach was rolling. She'd only been aware for a few seconds, and she was struggling to decide which was the lesser of two evils—opening her eyes to let the pain of her head worsen, or keeping them closed and having to throw up all over herself.

The decision was taken out of her hands when her stomach rolled once more and she had no choice but to sit up and look frantically for a place to be sick. She was in a single room, with no windows and a door that she had no doubts was locked. She was lying in the center of the floor, which was covered in very worn tile. In the corner was a bucket, which appeared to be her only option at the moment, so she attempted to crawl her way over to it.

Once she felt as though her stomach was settling, she leaned against a wall and wished there was a way to rinse out her mouth. She shouldn't be surprised to be treated this way. Kidnappers weren't known for being kind and gentle, and even though he'd promised he wasn't going to hurt her, it wouldn't be the first time a crazy person had broken into her apartment and lied to her.

It was a strange feeling to be isolated with no reference of time. She wasn't wearing a watch, and the single light bulb in the ceiling wasn't a great clue if it was morning or evening. Before she could come up with a plan to figure out what was going on, her stomach decided to see if she could make it to the bucket quicker this time.

Whoever the greasy-haired man was that drugged her and took her was going to pay. If she got her hands on him, she'd show him why her knee was feared in three states. But down deep, she knew she'd never see him again. Whoever took her was being hunted. If not right in this moment, then as soon as someone from RangeMan realized she was gone.

The distance that had been between Stephanie and Ranger truly seemed gone after that disaster of a dinner at her parents' house, and even if they hadn't reconnected, she knew he wouldn't allow this kind of thing to go unpunished. He might be the only person more allergic to talking about feelings than her, but she knew that someone in his inner circle being taken and hurt was not going to be ignored. Her knee might be a powerful weapon, but she knew the guys at RangeMan were capable of dishing out pain a lot worse than that. If she wasn't so pissed at the person that took her, she might pity them. Her stomach rolled again, and she began to worry the bucket wasn't going to have enough capacity. Never mind. She wouldn't pity her kidnapper, no matter what happened to them. They had done something to her to make her feel like she was dying. They deserved the same kind of experience.

With that settled in her mind, she rolled over to her side, clinging to the bucket that she hoped would hold whatever else her body might decide to share. Honestly, she hadn't eaten that much over the last twenty-four hours. It couldn't have that much… Once again, Stephanie was proven wrong.

Exhausted, she collapsed and flung a bent arm over her face. Closing her eyes wasn't making it dark enough, and she was feeling the need to crawl in an empty cave and just die, so the excess light needed to disappear.

A distraction was what she needed. Hector had been nice enough to offer her a distraction the last time she needed one. He was a wonderful man, so strong and obviously capable, but with a lethal bad-boy silent mystique. She had the impression the very small group he held dear could always count on him to watch over them at any cost. After the trip to the cemetery to see Angelos's grave, she believed she might now be in that group.

Hector had presented a side of Ranger she could easily picture, but at the same time, it was difficult to reconcile. She'd always considered Ranger to be a man of honor—he would lie by omission only, but if he chose to speak, it was truth. Knowing that, it was hard to understand how to merge some of the things he'd said with some of the things he'd done for her. He had repeatedly protected her. He'd given her cars, money, a job, a place to hide when she was in danger, full access to RangeMan…the list didn't seem to have an end. According to the guys, Ranger didn't have to share. He wasn't one of the bleeding hearts of the world that had a caretaking compulsion. You had to be in an elite group—his family, of sorts—and then there were no ends that could be exhausted in what he would provide.

Was that what Ranger wanted? Did he want her to be a part of his RangeMan family, like Hector, Cal, Bobby, and Les? Her gut said he wanted her to be a part of that group, but not to be viewed in the same way as his men. This kind of circular thinking made her head hurt on a good day, and right now, it was only convincing her she only had moments left to live based on the pain the bursting embolism in her brain was causing.

If she were going to die lying on a dirty floor with her hand gripping a bucket full of that morning's breakfast, she didn't want her last moments to be filled with doubts and worries. If she could have a last thought, she wanted it to be of Ranger. The way he had been after she stood up to her mother at dinner.

While she hoped her ability to compartmentalize would allow her to block out that dinner, the way he'd acted from the moment he'd met her at the curb until he'd had to leave for a call was exactly how she wanted to remember him. That was her Ranger. Oh God, did she have a Ranger?

Stephanie didn't need a mirror to know there was a smile on her face. She didn't know how he'd feel about the title, but she knew she most certainly had a Ranger, and that version on her couch last night was it. He was open and sharing about his life without her having to drag details out of him. He was eating junk food, not because he liked it or wanted it, but because he knew Stephanie needed it and he wanted to give her comfort. A small sob escaped when she realized she'd give up McDonald's for a year if he were here right now to give her some comfort.

Even before that, something was different. At the car, there were the sparks that used to fly between them every time they locked eyes. She'd missed those sparks. If she didn't know better, she'd think listening to her defend him to her mother had shifted something between them. Everything she'd said that night was true. It would be an honor to be with Ranger. Joe would never be more than a runner-up, because her heart had decided it would only be happy with Ranger and there was nothing she could do to change its mind. And after that single night—a few hours of reconnecting—she had to agree with her heart. It was him or nothing.

If she could get out of this mess, she was determined not to be such a wimp about it. Ranger was a strong man, capable of going out and getting what he wanted. She was going to find a way to tell him he was the thing she most wanted and she wasn't going to settle for second best anymore. It would be him or nothing for her. If it was too much honesty, he was going to have to look her in the eye and tell her. That's exactly what she was going to do…right after she finished adding more to the bucket.

Her kidnapper better be a dead man.

It was three minutes before twenty-one hundred hours. Stephanie had been missing for at least six hours, and Ranger was a man on the edge. Tank, Hector, Lester, Bobby, and Cal were around the perimeter. The caller might have told him to come alone, but there was no way he was going into something as important as a meeting to get Stephanie without backup. No matter what happened to him, his woman was going back to RangeMan tonight. If he had to give up his life to make it happen, then his men would be there to get her home. Comfort could be found in almost any circumstance if you looked for it hard enough. If he could walk out of this with her safely in his arms, then he'd be willing to eat more of those by-products they called food from McDonald's.

Every time she was in danger, he felt like his heart had stopped beating, but this time, it was more. There was a hollowness in the center of his chest that ached. Being shot didn't hurt like this. She'd stood up to her mother and implied that she wanted to be with him, and he hadn't pushed her for more, wanting to enjoy the dance between them because he'd begun to hope, and Ranger wasn't a man who allowed his hopes to be dashed easily. The night before in her apartment, he'd seen a glimmer of what life could be like between them. It was easy, and comfortable, but intimate and…he was going to kill the bastard that took her. It didn't matter why. It didn't matter if he'd put Stephanie in the lap of luxury with her every need attended to. Stephanie was his woman, and nobody laid a hand on what was his. Whatever had been holding him back, keeping him away from her for the last month, was gone, and he wasn't going to let another second go without her knowing how he felt. Lula had been right to get on him the other day, and he wasn't going to waste any more time. Stephanie was his, and he was going to let her know that as soon as he got her free.

The vibration of his phone almost startled him because he'd been busy picturing how to get rid of the body after they killed this guy. The same distorted voice began speaking as soon as he got the phone to his ear. "She's within a hundred yards of you, and she's dry. But you didn't come alone, and I'm not going to give you any more clues than that." He paused and his tone changed. "She didn't take to sedation well, so you should probably start looking now, because it's completely up to you to find her."

The line went dead before Ranger could respond.

"I'm coming, Babe," he mumbled, pledging it to her as well as to himself.

He knew the men had heard the message. Everyone except Cal, but that didn't matter. Tank would send him a text telling him to get in the water and start searching boats to see if she was in one of them. Having a Seal came in handy sometimes. Cal didn't do well with loud noises, but when he heard Stephanie was gone, he tore the gym apart blaming himself for her abduction. Ranger knew there was more to the story than what he'd heard, but from what he'd picked up, Cal had brought her home that afternoon and dropped her off in the parking lot. There was no known stalker, no unfriendlies visible from the outside, and she'd insisted she didn't need him to go up. As far as Ranger was concerned, there was no blame for Cal. This kind of shit just seemed to happen to Stephanie. There was still a discussion to be had about why Cal had been dropping her off and where he had taken her in the first place, but that could wait for another day. When Tank announced the plan to get Stephanie home, there was no way to hold Cal back. A year ago, they'd learned that there wasn't a reason for him to be held back because of his potential reaction to unexpected sounds, so they'd had him fitted with some special gel earplugs that blocked nearly all sound, and they'd done some intensive training on hand signals. Ever since then, Cal had been a fully functional member of the team. Ranger didn't believe in giving up on people. If it hadn't been for Cal's drive to keep pushing up on that beach, he wouldn't have made it home after he was captured. That kind of loyalty, the kind that came at such a high cost to yourself, was something he respected and felt driven to repay. Ranger knew Cal considered himself broken, but in his mind, Ranger believed he was one of the strongest men he knew. Pride would keep him from saying it aloud, but he'd hoped pulling him into the inner circle would show him what his words might never say.

The com unit in his ear came to life, and Tank began barking out directions, alerting the group that Cal would begin with the boats, Hector was going south, Les and Bobby would head west, and Tank was going north. Ranger realized he hadn't been given a direction and knew it was for the best. Emotionally compromised didn't begin to describe his condition right now.

He knelt down and took a deep breath with his eyes closed, letting his zone come to him. Once he felt fully in control, he opened his eyes and looked around. "Where are you, Babe?"

This was a deserted section of town at night. Even during the day, the warehouses and storage facilities that used to be thriving were no longer as busy as they'd once been. Where would he hide someone if he needed to? He remembered the video of the kidnapper hauling her out of her apartment and recalled how he was barely able to support her weight. He wasn't supporting her neck, so he doubted whoever this was took her high into a building. If it were him, he wouldn't leave someone in a big open space, where they could make noise and bring attention to their captive state, either. He began discounting locations and scanning for what made sense. Then his eyes saw it, a glimmer of faint yellow reflecting in one of the windows of the former office building. He had to squint to see it. Knowing he was probably clinging to a fool's hope, he jogged in that direction.

The unmistakable sound of Tank's footsteps fell in line behind him. Ranger knew Tank was capable of being silent, so he was intentionally making noise to alert Ranger that he wasn't alone. Probably wasn't a bad idea. At the moment, if he'd suspected someone was following him, Ranger was likely to shoot first and then ask questions.

The closer he got to the building, the harder it was to see the light he had been convinced was there a moment ago. That didn't stop him from approaching the small two-story office building. He couldn't wait any longer; he had to do _something_ to find Stephanie.

He made easy work of the lock, not willing to risk this being a trap and him setting off a detonation unexpectedly, he moved slowly, intentionally, scanning the floor, the walls, and the ceiling. His flashlight illuminated everything easily, and he found nothing to indicate that it was unsafe to enter. Tank pointed to the floor, and Ranger noticed the footsteps in the coating of dust. Someone had been there recently.

Then he saw what had caught his eye from across the way. One of the closed doors across the large open room had some light coming from around it. His years of training weren't working the way they usually did. His heart was beating like he was going for a morning run, and with his tight grip on his Glock, he could feel the sweat on his palm.

Tank shined his light on the door, and they saw a white sheet of paper with quickly written words scrawled on it.

_How did it make you feel to know she was gone? Wasn't there something you wished you'd told her? Maybe tonight is your chance._

"Is this guy shitting us?" Tank spoke softly, expressing the same feeling of disbelief Ranger had.

"Doesn't matter why he did it," Ranger growled out. "He's a dead man."

Tank just nodded his agreement.

The door was locked, but Ranger easily got it open. As soon as they stepped into the dingy room, his eyes fell on the most beautiful sight. Sure, she was dirty and was obviously not feeling well, but there was a slight bit of movement in addition to her soft sobbing, so he knew she was alive.

"Babe," he called out, running from where he'd been temporarily frozen at the door.

He could hear Tank talking on his cell phone, calling Bobby to their location.

"Stephanie," Ranger spoke softly, pushing her hair away from her face, relieved to see she didn't appear to have any bruises or cuts. His relief began to fade when he realized just how pale she was. A quick glance in the bucket to their right showed she'd obviously gotten very sick from the anesthesia, just like Bobby had said she would.

She made a few noises, and her eyes flickered open, but it was clear she didn't have the energy to keep them that way. Her tongue darted out, in a weak attempt to moisten her lips.

Bobby came in and knelt beside them, opening his bag and pulling out his penlight to check her pupils. He looked at both and then pinched at the skin on her left hand. "She's really dehydrated, man, I'm going to try to get a line in."

Ranger nodded, finding speech well beyond what he could manage at the moment. All that mattered was Stephanie. Bobby was taking care of her, and Ranger wouldn't leave her side until he knew she was going to be okay. But then he'd go and find out who the arrogant SOB was that had a limited number of moments left to live.

It felt like time was standing still, with Bobby working quietly at their side. Without warning, Stephanie bolted up and heaved over the bucket, not having much more to expel from what had to be an empty stomach.

"Bobby…" Ranger wanted to tell his medic to do something, but he knew from Bobby's expression that he was doing all he could.

"I just gave her something to help settle her stomach, but it takes a little time to kick in," he advised. "We'll give her a few minutes and then get her to the hospital."

Stephanie collapsed back against him. "No." Her voice was small and weak, but he still heard a resolve there that he wanted to respect.

"Does she need to go to the hospital, or can you treat her?"

Bobby rolled his eyes. When his tough-as-nails medic had picked up that habit, he wasn't sure, but it had Stephanie's influence written all over it. "I'd rather have them look her over to be sure there aren't any…other injuries we aren't aware of. They can capture any…evidence that we might need to prosecute later, and if…something happened we don't know about...they have meds there she may need."

Ranger could tell Bobby was doing everything he could to keep from saying in case this bastard had raped Stephanie. There was no way to know for sure what happened to her, because she'd been unconscious. As much as he hated the idea of overruling her, he would always do what was in her best interest, even if it meant enduring one of her famous temper flare-ups. What he wouldn't give to see some fire in her eyes right then anyway. He'd gladly endure her shrieking and arm waving if it meant she was okay.

"Let's go to Holy Family, not St. Francis," Ranger demanded, figuring it was the hospital on the opposite side of town from the 'Burg, which lessened the chance of anyone seeing them bring her in and spreading the news of her kidnapping.

Bobby nodded and looked up to ask Tank, "Can you get the truck right up to the door?"

"Hector's already pulled up," he answered, always anticipating what Ranger might need from his second-in-command.

Carefully, Ranger shifted so that he could lift Stephanie from the floor. Bobby followed his movement and laid the saline bag on Stephanie's stomach so she could continue to receive fluids while they drove. Ranger made sure she was cradled in his arms so her head was supported and not dangling lifelessly. He'd seen it too many times in the video from her apartment, and he couldn't bear to see it again.

He kept her in his lap as he slid in the back seat of the SUV and was so relieved to hear her speak, even as her voice cracked.

"Ranger?"

"I'm right here, Babe," he assured her.

"I knew you'd come," she breathed out and then nestled her head against him closer.

Ranger had been given just about every award a person in the Armed Forces could earn, but those words—those simple words of complete confidence—were probably the best commendation he'd ever received. She had faith in him. He placed a kiss on her messy curls and looked up, hoping the dust that had suddenly gotten in his eyes would pass before they watered any more.

_A/N: I know I promised I wouldn't harp on about my original book, but for those who are interested, I've started a little blog on goodreads that can be found here: author_blog_posts/5089644-questions-not-answers You obviously need to take out the spaces and put in the periods where it says dot, but that should take you straight to it. It's a chance for you to ask me any questions you might have and I'll answer them in my upcoming post(s). I'm a pretty open book, so if there's something you'd like to know about me or A Killer Cup of Joe, feel free to ask it there. And, as always, thank you so much for your support on this project._


	14. Jumping Off the Cliff(ie)

_JE created the characters below._

_Jenny (JenRar) I can't find the right words to thank you sufficiently for working as the beta on this story. _

**Chapter 14 - Jumping off the Cliff(ie)**

Stephanie was moving in and out of consciousness, but each time her eyes attempted to open, she called for Ranger. It became obvious to the medical team attempting to examine her that the process would move faster if he was not only there, but holding her for what was about to come.

"Is this really necessary?" Ranger asked the second time. The way he was clinging to the woman whose head was resting on his legs was the first clue he was nervous, but to anyone who knew him, the fact that he was repeating himself was an even bigger tell.

"She's still out of it," Bobby reminded him again. "You know if the guy who took her managed to hurt her in a way that we don't see right now, you're going to need time to wrap your head around the news so you don't react in a way that hurts her even more."

"I don't like this," Ranger mumbled, although he appeared to be resigning himself to it happening anyway. "You're staying, right?"

"Man, I'm not going anywhere," Bobby promised for the fourth time since they'd arrived at the hospital. Hopefully the doctor they'd been waiting for would be as good as everyone said he was so they could get through this exam quickly before Ranger got any worse.

No sooner had he thought that than a tiny woman walked in the door and announced, "All right, let's get this done as quickly as possible so we can make Miss Plum comfortable."

The nurses and attendants snapped to attention, and Bobby found himself standing straighter for no apparent reason other than the barely five-foot woman who was near him. "You"—she pointed at Bobby—"get out."

"No." Bobby squared his shoulders, ready to go to battle if he had to, but Stephanie was the single woman in this world who he felt he'd gladly give his life for after what she'd done for him and Les. Ranger needed him, and he owed his life to his boss. There was no way he was leaving this room, no matter what the half-pint woman said.

"I'm familiar with Stephanie's medical history, I'm here at the request of her medial power of attorney, and I'm not leaving," he returned, trying to put the full force of his determination behind every word.

"Do you have any medical training?" she questioned while washing her hands.

Bobby walked over to the sink next to the one she was using and began soaping up himself. "Field trained by Uncle Sam and completely up to date in all my certifications."

"You won't pass out, will you?" She seemed to be softening to the idea of him remaining in her exam room. "You're too big for me to catch, and I need to focus on the patient."

"I can stay on my feet," he replied, wondering what it was about the Hobbit-sized woman that he couldn't turn away from.

"Then get some gloves, and maybe you can prove yourself to be useful," she commanded, turning quickly enough that Bobby almost missed her smile. Damn, he'd have to do a good job, because he wanted another chance to see her dimple.

The doctor turned on a device and began talking, obviously catching the full record in real time as she did the exam. "White female, approximately five foot…seven."

"Eight," Bobby corrected, getting a raised eyebrow from the woman in front of him. "She's five foot eight, one hundred twenty-two pounds."

"Sexually active?" the doctor asked, humoring him probably, but since he just happened to know this information, he decided to get it on the record, too. Hopefully Stephanie would stay unconscious while he discussed her most private details.

"She has been, but it's been exactly sixty-one days since her last sexual encounter."

"You know the exact day?" The doctor seemed confused. "If you have intimate knowledge of the patient, then it is completely inappropriate for you to be here for what's about to happen."

"No," he corrected her quickly, hoping she'd believe him. For some reason, her opinion of him mattered. "We're friends, nothing more, but a couple of nights ago, she had a very candid conversation with my partner and me and disclosed that particular number."

The doctor's head tilted to the right, and then she shrugged before reaching for a camera and taking a few pictures of Stephanie. Once that was complete, she pulled Stephanie's pants down and swabbed them well, attempting to get any particulates that could be embedded in the denim.

Cutting Stephanie's panties away, the doctor put them in a plastic bag and sealed it before signing over the seal to preserve any evidence that could be housed in them.

Then she sat on a rolling stool, moved to the edge of the table, and began her exam in earnest. After several long moments of tense silence, the doctor spoke. "I see no evidence of sexual assault, or activity of any sort, but I'll still take a few swabs and send them off for analysis, just to be sure." She continued to work, focused completely on Stephanie. "No matter what the lab comes back with, you were right to bring her here, based on what you described happening to her. It could have very easily been a different outcome."

Seeming satisfied with her work, she rolled back and pulled off her mask and gloves before pulling a cover over Stephanie. "Sorry to have been so hard on you." She softened completely when she looked at Bobby. "I've been doing this kind of thing for a while now, and not everybody is as lucky as your friend here."

Stephanie jolted when the doctor referred to her, and then she leaned forward to heave some more. Her stomach still hadn't settled despite the meds he'd given her earlier. Bobby would need to record this anesthetic in her chart to be sure it was never given to her again. Apparently, it wasn't just the dose, but the chemical itself her body couldn't tolerate.

"Maybe lucky isn't the right word, either," the doctor said, amending her comment as Stephanie's body attempted to get rid of whatever contents still remained in her stomach. "I'll give her something a little stronger to settle her stomach, and we'll hang another liter of saline to get her rehydrated. After that's in her system, I see no reason why she can't be released into your care."

Working efficiently, she turned to leave, but then quickly spun back around to face Bobby. "The guards at the door…are they because there is still a threat to the victim?"

"Yes," Ranger answered before Bobby could.

"We aren't sure why she was taken or who took her, so until we have that information, there is no way to tell if someone might make another attempt to hurt her. We don't take any chances where Stephanie is concerned." He was offering more information than was necessary; Ranger had technically answered the question. Bobby wasn't sure why his mouth seemed to be droning on.

"She's very fortunate to have a group looking out for her," the doctor added. "Whatever happened to her, she'll be able to bounce back from it with you all around her."

Bobby glanced back and watched as Ranger tucked the blanket around Stephanie tighter. She was right about Stephanie bouncing back—that was just a quality of the incredible woman that was a vital part of their family—but it wasn't the group that would help her. It was the man currently stroking her hair that would help her to heal. They'd all been spilling their guts to Stephanie in the hope that it would help her to see what had been in front of her all along, but the look on Ranger's face told Bobby he'd realized a few things about Stephanie as well. There was no doubt those two would be having a real conversation...and soon.

"Can I get you a really bad cup of hospital coffee as a thank you for what you did for her tonight?" Bobby blurted out, not sure where the question had come from.

"Take Lester, too," Ranger spoke without looking up. "Tank is big enough to cover the door."

"Do you need a bodyguard?" The doctor seemed to the find the idea of Bobby needing to take someone with him amusing.

"No, but he and I are a package deal," Bobby answered honestly, not seeing the need to hold back.

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, her head snapped up and she looked into his eyes. He wasn't sure what she was searching for, but he could definitely see the wheels turning while she seemed to work something out in her head.

"Well then, let's get a look at your package," she finally replied with a grin.

Thank goodness Stephanie's grandmother hadn't heard that.

She was so pale. Not that she was ever really dark, but he could see the thin lines of blue and purple just under the skin. "Babe, what did he do to you?"

She moved her head like she was searching for a more comfortable position in his lap and then mumbled, "I'm okay now."

"Bobby and the doctor took care of you," he agreed.

"No..." Her eyes flickered and finally opened, allowing him a glimpse of her now gray-blue eyes. They didn't hold even half of their normal sparkle and life, but they were still stunningly beautiful to him in this moment. "No, I'm with you...I'm okay now."

"I hope you're okay with that," he commented as much to her as to himself. "Because after tonight, you're going to be stuck with me for a while."

"Just for a while?" she asked.

He decided honesty might be helpful here. "For as long as you'll let me stay."

She smiled at his response and then relaxed back to sleep.

Somebody better be dead. She'd had enough of this headache, and if Ranger or the guys hadn't found a way to make somebody pay for how she felt at the moment, then she was going to exact her own revenge and have whoever took her praying for RangeMan to take him out of his misery.

Everything hurt. Her head was almost the least of her worries, because every time she tried to move, it felt like her ribs were on fire. A few details from the night before flashed through her mind, and she wondered if it were possible to break a rib from throwing up. If it was, she had definitely done it.

At least she was warm. She hated being cold when she woke up. She moved her head a little and realized the sheets were perfectly silky smooth. That could only mean one thing: she was in Ranger's bed on seven. And based on the solid wall behind her, she wasn't alone.

"Do you need anything?" he asked, somehow sensing she was awake.

She shook her head no and then realized that wasn't completely accurate. She needed a good many things; she just wasn't sure how to tackle them all.

"How about a shower," he suggested, picking what should probably be first on her list.

After he said it, she could feel the grime on her and she was desperate to get it off.

A simple nod gave him permission to pull back the covers, which caused a new question to come up.

"Ranger, where are my pants? And why am I not wearing any underwear?"

She moved so that she could see him better and watched real emotions cross his face. She wasn't an expert in this kind of thing, but it definitely looked like regret on his face, and perhaps anger and such sadness that she wished she could take the question back to save him the pain of trying to answer it. She hated his blank face, but this was just as hard to see.

"The doctor took them off at the hospital and sent them to the lab to process," he answered honestly.

That woke her up completely, and despite the fact that she felt like she'd been run over by a truck—repeatedly—she sat up and moved to see him better. "Wait a minute. Was I…?" She could finish the sentence, so she tried a different approach. "Is that what the guy who took me did to me?"

"No!" He put his hand on her arm and rubbed it up and down. "We didn't know, and Bobby suggested that since you'd been unconscious, we needed to have an expert confirm that you were okay so it would put all our minds at ease."

A quickly increasing heartbeat was all she could hear in her ears as the room began to grow darker.

"Breathe, Babe," Ranger spoke softly, moving behind her to support her back and press his body against hers.

As the warmth from him touched her, she could feel her body relax and was able to get on top of her breathing before he pushed her head down between her knees.

"The truth is, we don't know who took you or why they did it," he confessed, still rubbing his hands softly up and down her arms. "But we do know that you're okay, except for the side effects from whatever he used to knock you out. You seemed to have a reaction to the drug and spent a lot time heaving. Bobby said you'd be sore this morning and for the next few days, but the IV they gave you at the hospital helped to get you hydrated enough to bring you home."

She nodded that she'd heard him, and she had...all way up to where he said he'd brought her home. She was definitely in his apartment, not her own, but he'd called it home. At the moment, that's exactly what this was for her. Home was where you were supposed to feel safe, and loved, and accepted, and she could feel each of those things in this place, with this man.

"How about a bath?" he prompted after the silence began to grow.

When she nodded, he stood before turning and lifting her from the bed.

"I can walk," she protested, but it was weak even to her own ears. In truth, if he put her down, she would have been disappointed.

He set her on the counter in the bathroom, next to the wall so she could feel supported, and then stepped over to the huge oval tub she'd so often admired. He poured something into the water, but it didn't make bubbles, so she had no idea what it was. The room did smell like an herbal tea Grandma Mazur used to make when someone was sick, and she shut her eyes and breathed it in. Home.

"Do you want to leave this shirt on?" he asked, his forehead wrinkled in concern.

Somehow, while her eyes had been closed, he'd slipped off his pants and stood in front of her wearing only a pair of silk boxers. Stephanie knew he usually went commando and wondered if she'd missed him being naked before he slipped them on, or if he'd had them on under his sweats all night.

Apparently interpreting her silence as consent, he slowly undid the buttons on her shirt and slid it down her arms, tugging the sleeves to pull her arms free. Then he carefully pulled her from the counter back into his arms.

"I'm too heavy," she protested.

"Shhh," he soothed her quietly and then stepped into the tub before lowering them both into the water.

The herbal scent was stronger in the water, and she wondered what it was that smelled so good.

"Just relax, Babe, and let me take care of you."

If she'd had more energy, she might have argued the point, but at the moment, being taken care of sounded perfect.

She wanted to let him know how much she appreciated his care. "Thank y—"

He put a finger over her lips to stop her from speaking. "No price, remember?"

She nodded, knowing he wouldn't let her finish what she had planned on saying, and then she thought about what he said. He was wrong, but now wasn't the time to point that out to him. When she was stronger, and he was done hovering, if he distanced himself again, it was going to come at a very high price—one she wasn't sure she could pay again.

That thought emboldened her to speak up. "There's always a price."

He shook his head, and she could feel the movement behind her. "No, Babe," he disagreed. "I'm not doing this for repayment."

That much she believed. "I know, but that doesn't mean that when you go away the next time, it won't come at cost to me."

"Who said I'm going away?"

"History," she answered the best way she could. "Every time you pull me close, you always end up pushing me away."

His chest stilled like he was holding his breath. After what felt like an eternity, he let out a breath and replied, "I know that feeling."

Stephanie's face warmed from embarrassment and not the temperature of the bath they were sharing. He was right; she'd done the same thing to him. They would get closer, and then as soon as he seemed to be unavailable, she'd go back to Joe. It wasn't intentional; she'd always interpreted the distance as his lack of interest, but what if she'd been wrong? What if he'd just been doing that to keep it from hurting when she went back to Morelli? Why had she never considered that before?

She had to put her hand on her stomach when that thought made her chuckle. It hurt too much to attempt laughter right now. If the feelings she'd just assigned to Ranger were remotely in the ballpark of reality, then it would mean he loved her, and based on the evidence of her most recent abduction, she certainly didn't have luck that good.

"What's got you amused?" Ranger asked, reminding her that she wasn't alone in the tub.

"I got lost in my head for a minute there, and my imagination made up a scenario where you were hurt when I would go back to Joe."

"That's not your imagination," he spoke softly.

She tried to turn to see him, but his arms tightened around her, preventing the movement. It was just as well. Everything ached when she tried to move. "But you sent me back to him."

"Biggest fuck up of my life," he explained.

"You…" She couldn't calm her mind down enough to get a whole question out. "But…"

"Go ahead and ask, Babe," he encouraged, loosening his grip, but keeping his arms around her. "Ask me what you want to know, and I'll answer it."

"Do you care about me?"

"You know I do," he replied quickly. "But that's not what you want to know, is it?"

He was right. She'd always known he'd cared for her. His actions and words all supported that, but she needed to know if it was the same kind of care he felt for Hector, Cal, or even Les and Bobby...or if it was something different.

"Do you think of me the same way you think of the guys?"

That question amused him, and she could feel his chest vibrate a little with laughter. "No, Babe, I've never taken a bath with one of the guys in my lap in the tub."

The image of Tank draped over Ranger's chest came into her mind, and she laughed at how inadequate this giant tub would be at holding them both at once. She put her arm over her abs to try to stop the movement, which caused the pain to flare up once more.

"Come on, Babe," he encouraged her once more. "Ask me what you really want to know."

She bit her lip and wondered if she could say it out loud. Could she handle the truth if it wasn't what she wanted to hear? Finally, she accepted there were times when the only way to know if you could fly was to jump off the roof.

"Are you in love with me?"


	15. All That Time

_None of the characters below are mine; they came straight from JE's imagination._

_Jenny (JenRar) thank you for your hard work as the beta on this story and for letting me hit you with questions along the way._

**Chapter 15 - All That Time...**

"Come on, Babe," he encouraged her once more. "Ask me what you really want to know."

"Are you in love with me?" she asked, finally giving voice to the question she most wanted to hear a response to. As soon as it came through her lips, it seemed to let loose something in her, and other questions tumbled out as well. "Why can't we have a relationship? Why do you seem to say one thing and do another? Are you going to send me away?"

"Hold on," he interrupted, just as she was getting started. "I'll answer what I can, but you have to slow down to give me a chance."

"Sorry," she mumbled, realizing her mouth had gotten away from her and probably clouded the first, most pressing question.

"Yes," he stated simply, letting a period of silence build. "There is no reason we can't have a relationship now, unless you're telling me you don't want one. The way I acted in the past was been based on good intentions at the time, but circumstances change—people change—and what I thought I could have then and what I want now aren't the same." His hands began to move softly across her stomach and up her arm. "I want you, Stephanie. I've always known it, but the way I felt when I realized you'd been taken made it abundantly clear. I'm in love with you and I want you in my life, by my side. Not only am I not sending you away, but if you try to leave, I'll hunt you down—and I've proven already that I can do it."

Was that a joke? Was Ranger trying to be open, honest, and funny? "Who are you, and what have you done with my Ranger?" she replied.

His chest shook with soft laughter. "I'm the same guy, but I've come to realize what's been right in front of me for a while, and I'm not willing to sit back and wait to see what might happen." Before she could reply he added, "Your Ranger?"

Thankfully, her back was to him so he couldn't see her face turn red. "Why were you holding back in the first place?" she asked, hoping she could distract him from his last question.

"When I came home from my last mission, I was happy to see you, Babe."

His hands began to move again while he talked, and she wondered if he was doing that to comfort her, or himself.

"It had been a hard few months, and it was such a relief to see you that when you told me about you splitting up with the cop and then you tried to raise an eyebrow at me, it was so…cute, that I couldn't help but laugh. And then you shut down and pulled away, so I figured something had happened I didn't know about. I'm trained to be patient and to observe, so that's what I did. I pulled back to see what was going on with you, and waited, hoping you'd drop a clue, or it would resolve, but it never did."

"Wait, you laughed because of my facial expression?" She couldn't believe that was true. If it was, then it would mean she'd pushed him away this time and given up the chance to be around him for the last month. How could she have been so stupid? She'd grown so accustomed to the world laughing at her that it was easy to believe Ranger was doing it too. It never occurred to her that his laughter was from something so simple. "I thought you laughed that day because you didn't believe me when I said Joe and I were through." She swallowed hard, easily remembering the pain that single second had caused her over the last few weeks. "It was the first time you hadn't believed in me, and it…hurt." The last word was barely a whisper.

"Babe." Her name was spoken softly, like a prayer. "I've always had faith in you. There's a lot of shit in this world I don't believe in, but you are the constant."

This time, his hand went down to touch the top of her hip, and Stephanie wondered if the tub was magic, because the water certainly felt like it was getting warmer instead of cooler like it usually would during a bath.

"Why didn't you say something, if that's what you thought? Normally, you would have challenged me if you thought I was insulting you."

"If it had been about cars, or skips, or carrying my gun, I probably would have, but this was about me. I was shocked and couldn't believe that the one person I'd always assumed would be on my side suddenly wasn't, so I didn't say anything, figuring you wouldn't believe me, especially since I thought you were laughing at me."

Silence grew, but not uncomfortably so. Sometimes, there was no way to move forward without exhausting the "what-if" mental game.

Stephanie came out of her musings first. "You were just happy to see me?"

"I was over the moon to see you," he assured her. "There were a lot of…tough moments during that mission, and a few times, it was just thinking about you that kept me going—fighting to get back home. Seeing you alive and in the flesh, trying to be so tough, just made me smile, and that quickly moved to laughter. If I'd thought for a moment that you'd interpreted that to mean I was laughing at you and not taking what you were saying seriously, then I would have said something, but at the time…well, let's just say I misunderstood your silence."

"All that time…" Stephanie drifted off, thinking of how it had been wasted.

"…helped us to see why we're better together than apart," he said, finishing her sentence in an unexpected way. "It made me see what had been right in front of me all along."

Who knew Ranger was a glass half full kind of person. Her thought made Ranger laugh, which told her it hadn't been entirely internal.

"I'm not known for being an optimist, Babe, but I do tend to see the outcome I want in most situations so that I have the motivation to make it happen that way."

She figured he just snapped his fingers and the universe fell into place the way he wanted it to be, but he was probably right that work was required on his part to make it that simple.

"That reminds me... You've asked your questions, but I have a few of my own."

Swallowing twice got rid of part of the instant lump in her throat, but she kept her hands balled up in front of her so Ranger wouldn't notice them shaking.

"Are you in love with me?"

"Ohhhhh, yeah," she was able to easily answer, then to prove it, she decided to do something she'd always struggled with before. "I'm completely in love with you." The bathtub was definitely magic, because even as nervous as she was right now, that was simple to admit out loud.

"I've watched you go back and forth with the cop for a few years now," he began, and she hated how much time she'd apparently wasted with Joe. "Can you handle something long-term with me? The door to my bedroom doesn't revolve."

She wasn't sure what to think of that comment. "I went back to Joe because he wanted me, and sometimes a person needs to feel wanted. I left him because when we were together, it wasn't right and it didn't fit, so I couldn't stay. With you, it's…right. I don't want to go."

"I've got a reputation for being quiet and difficult to deal with," he pointed out.

Really? She thought dripping with sarcasm. "I've got a reputation for blowing things up, making scenes in public, and never being quiet," she countered. "Of the two of us, you definitely have to put up with more."

He shrugged, as though her comment didn't matter much. "Maybe externally, but when it's just the two of us alone, you'll have it harder."

That might be true, she mused. "I think now that we're on the same page, it will be easier to take your silence without assuming it's because you'd rather be with somebody else."

"There's no one else I want to be with," he assured her.

His voice was so smooth and set that she believed him. He was certainly loyal. Her personal observations and the stories the guys had shared with her all reinforced that.

"So just to be clear about the page we're on…"

"I'm on the page where I realize I love you and I want to be with you, whenever and however I can be," she clarified.

His arms tightened around her, not to the point of being painful, but enough that she knew he liked her answer. "I'm on that same page, except I want you with me whenever and however you want to be."

"I know you like your privacy," she admitted, wishing it didn't sound like she was giving him an excuse to push her away occasionally.

"Privacy and a relationship aren't mutually exclusive," he explained. "I expect you to protect my privacy as you learn more about me, to hold my secrets as your own. But never mistake my lack of conversation for me not wanting you there. Sometimes, just having you nearby is what has kept me going. If you're uncertain about what I'm thinking or what's going on, you're going to have to ask."

"You'd think as much time as I spend talking, that would be easy." Then she asked, "Why does admitting all of this seem so simple, when it felt impossible just a couple of days ago?"

"Seeing you in that warehouse on the floor…you were so pale..."

His voice grew quieter with every word, and she could feel him tightening up behind her, so she repositioned her head on his chest and waited for him to pull himself out of the memory.

"To think that I could have lost you and you'd never have known how I felt was enough to make me talk. Plus, I had a conversation with Lula, and despite her usually crazy antics, she made some valid points that day that forced me to look at you a little differently." Then he kissed the top of her hair and asked, "What about you?"

"I spent a lot of time confused because it seemed like you would say one thing and then do another. I've been hanging out with a few of the guys lately, and they've told me about their lives and just happened to mention some of the stuff you've done for them, and it got me thinking that your actions have always spoken louder than your words, and maybe I'd been wrong to hold a literal interpretation of what you'd said against you." After thinking about it for another moment, she added, "Lula was talking to you, the guys were talking to me…it's like there was a conspiracy going on where everybody was working to get us together."

They laughed together, enjoying the easy feel of something so simple as sharing a bath together and making jokes.

Stephanie looked down at her hand and saw that her fingers were pruney. "So who took me, and what did they want?"

He let out a long breath before telling her, "We don't know yet. If you feel up to it, you can come downstairs with me to see if the guys have come up with anything while we've been resting."

Nothing made sense. Tank had reviewed the tapes at least twenty times and still couldn't figure out how to ID the guy that stole Stephanie from her own apartment. He read and reread the note that had been taped to the warehouse door. If he didn't know better, he'd say the guy took Stephanie to force Ranger to admit how he felt for her. But this was Stephanie they were talking about, and since being kidnapped was not entirely unusual, past experience had taught them that kidnappers rarely turned out to be matchmakers.

His cell phone rang for the tenth time in the last thirty minutes. It was the general ringtone, so he'd been ignoring it, knowing if it was work-related, he'd be able to hear the difference. Since he wasn't making any progress in digging up something to find them a target to pay back, he decided to take a break and see who'd been bugging him all morning.

"Thank God you answered your phone," a panicked female voice spoke in his ear. "I was afraid I was going to have to show up at RangeMan, and I really didn't want to do that."

"You heard about Stephanie?" Tank asking, knowing it was Mary Lou and assuming she wanted an update on her friend's condition.

"Yes, but not the way you'd think," she said, confusing him. "Connie called me."

"How did Connie hear?"

"Her cousin called and let her know during the night," Mary Lou explained, not making much sense, unless Connie's cousin worked at the hospital and there'd been a serious breach of confidentiality.

When she stopped talking, Tank decided to wait her out, not sure why she was calling if she didn't have any more questions.

"You are every bit as frustrating on the phone as Stephanie said you were."

"Thank you," he answered, not seeing it as an insult, despite how it was most likely intended.

"We'll talk about that later." Her voice reminded him so much of his mother's at that moment, he expected her to add the words "young man" at the end. "Right now, we've got much bigger issues."

"We do?" Tank couldn't think of anything bigger than what he was supposed to be working on, which reminded him that teasing Steph's friend wasn't really getting him any new information to pass along to the boss when he finally felt comfortable leaving Stephanie.

"Yes. Connie called me, ecstatic that she'd come up with a plan that would definitely work to force Ranger to admit how he felt about Steph. So I told her you thought the plan was already working and no additional reinforcements were going to be needed, and then she said, 'Uh-oh.'"

"Uh-oh?" Tank repeated, hoping that it meant something different to middle-aged women related to the mob, because where he came from, it meant there was a problem.

"She said it was too late to stop, because her cousin was using it as a training exercise for one of his new guys to try to kidnap someone."

As soon as the word kidnap came through the line, Tank knew exactly what had happened. "Wait," he interrupted. "You're telling me that someone related to Connie agreed to have a trainee in his Family organization drug Stephanie and kidnap her to threaten Ranger because Connie believed it would force them to admit they should be together?"

There was no way around it. He was going to wake up covered in snow with just a Swiss army knife, a roll of duct tape, and a box of headless matches. At this point, he knew there wouldn't be a coat; he was hoping Ranger would at least let him keep on pants to prevent the initial frost bite from the more sensitive places.

"Yes!" Mary Lou agreed with his fears, basically signing his plane ticket. "He didn't realize the drug would make her sick, and he didn't know that giving someone a dose measured for a three hundred-pound man could kill her, either. The guy was just trying to be thorough to prove he was good at this line of work."

He could hear a faint tapping and pictured her tapping her thumbnail against her front teeth.

"This is bad, isn't it?"

He ran his hand over his face, feeling the stubble he hadn't had the time to get rid of today. "It is for me," he admitted, "but I'll keep you out of it." The sign of a good leader was whether or not he covered his men when the battle began. He wouldn't hang Mary Lou out to dry. She had kids that needed her, and she had no survival training. He'd heard her complain about the chill in the air already this fall, and he didn't think she could handle Siberia this time of year. He might not be able to either, come to think of it.

"No, wait, if you're going to tell Ranger what happened, then I need to level with Stephanie too. I can't ask you to take the fall for this."

That was more proof of why he'd liked this woman from the very beginning. She might not have his military background, but she understood loyalty.

"Where's Connie now?" he wondered, not sure if there was a way to redeem the situation, but knowing he had to at least try.

"She's at the bonds office and really wants you to call her."

"I'm going to head over there now and see if she may be able to help me figure out a different way to sell this to Ranger. Ideally, we can still redeem the mission without putting anyone else in harm's way." Tank knew it was a long shot, but he was an Army Ranger, and Uncle Sam had trained him to specialize in long shots.

And if he couldn't figure it out, the trip out of the office would give him time to get his shots up to date for wherever the boss might drop him.

_A/N: Thank you not only for continuing to read along with this story, but for giving my new blog a chance. Ideally, I'll update twice a week (Tuesday and Friday). If there's a topic you want me to cover, feel free to post it to the blog, or PM me and I'll carry it over._

author_blog_posts/5101702-balancing-act _-Obviously, you have to take out the spaces, and replace the.s with period, but that whould get you to the latest update._


	16. What a Tangled Web we Weave

_JE created the characters below, not me. _

_Jenny (JenRar) thank you for your tireless work and for being excited every time I send you something new to proofread._

**Chapter 16 – What a Tangled Web we Weave**

The bell announced Tank's presence, although it seemed like Connie had been expecting him, because she was at the door talking before he got completely in the building.

"Did Mary Lou call you? I would have called it off if I could, but there was nothing I could do."

He held up his hand, respecting Connie too much to let her ramble. It was obvious she was upset about what had happened, and having her slightly nasal voice going on and on wasn't helping him think. Strangely, Lula was in the corner near the filing cabinets, not saying a word. If anything spoke of how worried she was, it would be her stoic silence. He never liked it when Lula was quiet. It put him on edge and made him want to talk to fill the silence that was out of place near her.

Tank waited to speak until he was seated, uncertain of how to start. The beginning seemed like as good a place as any, so he jumped in, "You two know Steph was taken from her apartment yesterday afternoon and RangeMan had to get her back last night, right?"

They both nodded, but Connie was the first to speak. "I told my cousin, Tony, it would be great if somebody could take her, or make it took like she'd been taken, but I had no idea they'd go through that much effort. I guess the guy Tony asked to do it was overeager to make a good impression and went overboard to make it like a real abduction."

"It certainly looked real, and the way he left her in that warehouse, sick and alone, made it feel real too," he explained, trying not to let his anger out. "She could have died if we'd had trouble finding her. She had a reaction to the stuff he drugged her with and was in and out of consciousness for hours. It will be days before she's back to normal from this."

"I told them they couldn't hurt her and that they weren't allowed to scare her, that this was just supposed to look like a kidnapping," Connie pleaded. "I'd never ask somebody to hurt Stephanie."

Tank rubbed his hand over his face and realized he hadn't taken the time to shave before coming out. He wasn't used to appearing in public without being smooth. "I know you didn't mean for her to get hurt. The problem is...the boss is pissed that somebody took his woman, and he ain't gonna stop huntin' 'til somebody pays."

"I called Tony this morning, and he said the guy who wanted to work for him wasn't going to make the cut, so if somebody needs to pay, we can easily make him settle up for botching the job," she explained, apparently not suffering from any moral dilemmas at tossing the grunt under the bus. "He's definitely not up to the Family's usual standard."

"The problem is, Ranger wouldn't just kill him. He'd try to figure out if the guy was acting on his own, in order to know if Steph was still in danger. The fact that I played a role in this—that we all played a role in this—is going to come out," Tank leveled with them.

Silence grew until Connie smacked her hand on the desk, making Lula drop the file she'd been pretending to put away. "I've got it."

"What?"

"You guys were on the streets looking for information before you knew what happened, so it's reasonable you would have talked to me, and since Stephanie and I are close, I would have put a call in to my Uncle to talk about it in case there was something he could do to help. In the process, he found out about the threat to Stephanie, and because he likes to think of our organization as having a good working relationship with RangeMan, he decided to take care of the problem as a gift to Ranger."

It wasn't a bad plan, but it wasn't a great one, either. "What reason would you give for this guy having it out for Steph? And wouldn't your Uncle have reached out to Ranger to let him know about this gift? He doesn't usually do things for free."

"I didn't say it was perfect," Connie admitted, "but there has to be a way to let him take the fall for screwing this up without us going down with him. We were only trying to help, but I'm not sure Ranger will see it that way."

"He won't," Tank agreed, knowing his boss well enough to guarantee it.

"Has Steph picked up any mob people lately?" Lula asked, shocking Tank that she'd spoken up after having been quiet for so long.

Connie typed quickly and rattled off a few names that had an Italian sound to them. "None of them were major; it looks like she got them all back in without a problem."

"Maybe one of them was friendly with the guy that got her and he was out to teach her a lesson," Lula suggested, trying to justify a possible connection.

"The guy left a note on the door of the room where he left Steph that was basically taunting Ranger about leaving things unsaid and giving him a chance to clear the air with her. If he hadn't left that note, then it would be easy enough to sell to him, but there's no way he'll buy it as teaching her a lesson to leave the mob alone," Tank said, admitting defeat.

"Wait." Connie held up a finger with a bright red nail at the tip.

Tank wondered how she managed to type with those claws on the end, but knew better than to ask.

"There was Angelissa Giuseppe last month."

"Who?" Lula wondered.

"Lisa Giuseppe," Connie repeated, giving the woman's shorter first name. "She's the one who wanted cannoli, but the bakery had closed so she drove into the glass wall to get inside and then emptied the supply they'd left in the display overnight."

"I remember her." Lula was laughing. "She was some crazy-assed woman screaming at us when we showed up at her house. She told Steph that we didn't understand what it was like to have sugar needs and no way to satisfy them. It took White Girl about thirty seconds to set her straight on that, and then we got invited in for coffee and cookies before Steph finally got her down to the station. Once Steph talked her into coming in, you bailed her out so she was home in time for dinner, because she said she had some kind of shit in the refrigerator for dessert and it would only be good that night."

Tank shook his head and wondered how Steph had managed to stay alive as a bounty hunter. Taking food and drinks from a skip was an easy way to get poisoned or killed.

"Why can't we say the guy who nabbed Steph was doing it to teach her a lesson about picking people up, and then we can tell Ranger it was because she picked up this guy's woman and he was trying to get Ranger to keep Steph in line?" Connie suggested. "I've known Lisa for years. She's single, with very little to do other than eat. She'd gladly lie for us if I promised her some pastries."

Tank was desperate—he knew he was—but that didn't sound like a completely horrible idea. If the guy who took Stephanie was no longer breathing, and the woman corroborated the story, then Ranger might accept it as one of those things that could only happen to Stephanie.

"Call your cousin and get a report on the status of the failed applicant," Tank said while standing up.

"Where are you going?" Lula asked as he moved to the door.

"I've got a check-up with my doctor," he replied, not sure why he was sharing the details of his next stop. "I'll be back in an hour, and we'll figure out what to do next."

"Bring lunch," Lula called out as he opened the door. "We plan better when we've eaten."

He shook his head and wondered if he really wanted to open his life up to the craziness that Lula seemed to bring with her. When he looked back, he saw Lula pull her shirt up, trying to get her tits adjusted to look the way she wanted them to. He remembered playing with them when they were dating before and knew firsthand how much fun it was to touch them and how responsive she was when he did it. Yeah, after all this scheming, if he came out of it alive, then he just might ask her out again. After all, meddling with the boss's love life was proof he was up for a little craziness.

"Okay," Stephanie announced, turning from the counter at the bathroom sink and smiling. "Now I'm ready."

"You would have been fine to go down the way you were," Ranger informed her. "You didn't have to get dressed up for the guys."

"No," she corrected him. "I'm not ready to go down. I'm just finally feeling like I've got all the ick from last night off me, and I'm ready for you to come over here now."

Ranger strode over to where she was partially leaning against the countertop for support and wrapped his arms around her. "Now what?"

She was weak, hungry, and knew they had a group waiting for them downstairs, but there was no way she was leaving this apartment without sealing everything they'd said to each other in the tub. Stephanie needed to know if it was the magic of the water and the panic of not knowing if she was really okay or not that had Ranger talking about his feelings, or if it was real. Accepting that he was more a man of action than words meant she needed at least a little action to see how it felt to her. "Now you can let me thank you for coming after me last night."

He leaned down slightly, closing the gap between them nearly all the way. "You know I'll always come for you, don't you, Babe?"

When he said "Babe," her knees nearly gave away, but he tightened his arms to hold her upright. She nodded, not having any words that seemed to fit the moment. Stephanie raised her chin, lifting her lips closer to his. She could hear him taking a slow, deep breath, but he didn't move. It was the most sensuous tension she'd ever experienced. A part of her wanted to grip his head and pull him to her, but part of her was content to just stay exactly as they were…separated by less than an inch, the smell of their bath clinging to the damp air around them, and feeling the tingles that were always at the base of her neck when Ranger was around, but were now traveling all over.

"You're still okay with this?" Ranger asked, surprising Stephanie that she was the one reveling in the silence and he seemed to want to talk more. Where was Mr. stoic one-word-sentence man?

She nodded slightly, not wanting to move much, for fear of destroying the building pressure between them.

"Other than being weak, are you feeling okay now?"

What in the hell was going on? Why was Ranger turning into a chatty Cathy all of a sudden?

Again, she nodded, hoping he was done with the talking and would finally press his lips against hers. She knew she was minty fresh and was dying to taste him instead of the toothpaste and mouthwash.

"You don't feel like talking?" he asked, sounding concerned, but the slight smile on his face gave him away.

Slowly, she shook her head no.

"What do you feel like doing?"

While she would have preferred he shut up and kiss her, there was something fun in his refusal to move from the position they were in. It was almost like he was waiting for a clear invitation before he'd make a move.

"Kiss me," she replied, hoping he'd oblige and not keep her waiting even longer.

"All you had to do was ask," he whispered. "All you ever need to do is ask."

With those two sentences, he was done talking. Keeping his left arm wrapped securely around her waist to hold her tightly against him, he moved his right hand to cup the back of her neck, and then he slowly eased down to seal his lips against hers. There was nothing hurried in how he moved as he took complete possession of her. When he traced her bottom lip with his tongue, she opened her mouth and welcomed him in. The moment their tongues touched, the reserve and gentleness was gone, replaced with a sudden hunger. Stephanie felt consumed and desired, and she wondered how they'd ever managed to keep the stolen kisses in the alley G-rated, given how quickly this one had ignited.

Her stomach growled, and he pulled back just enough to rest his forehead against hers. The fact that he was breathing hard was a bit of a boost, because she knew he'd been just as affected by that kiss as she had been. Even if she hadn't already drawn that conclusion, when he moved to lift her up to sit on the countertop, his confession of, "No, not enough yet," would have done it.

This time, both his hands were free to move, and he managed to light a fire in the wake of his touch as he kissed her again and ran his hands over her arms, back, and hips. Just when she was about to suggest they let the guys follow the leads and return to bed, he pulled back again, "God, Steph…"

"We don't have to go downstairs yet, do we?" she asked, hoping he'd take the hint.

"No." His answer made her smile. "But we do have to have breakfast," he continued, bursting the temporary bubble. "I need to know you have the strength to stay conscious for whatever we decide to do next."

She definitely didn't want to pass out and miss something good, so breakfast seemed like a good idea. Besides, if she had some good stuff to eat, she might have enough energy to initiate some things so she wouldn't have to embarrass herself by trying to verbalize it to ask him to do all the things she wished he would do. "I could eat."

Ranger slowly, teasingly, kissed her once more. Stephanie wondered how he could say so much without speaking, but there was no doubt left in her mind—he loved her. Hell, based on the way he was cupping her face, he adored her. And that little hitch in his breath when she slightly nipped at his lip said he wanted her. Holy hell, she was really doing this with Batman. They were going to be together without guilt, hidden affections, or misconceptions about what they were doing. She was in a relationship with Ranger. That thought made her dizzy.

As if sensing the change in her, Ranger pulled back, placing a final soft kiss on her lips before saying, "Let's go get something to eat, Babe. You can't keep running on empty."

She didn't correct him that she wasn't weak from hunger; she was just overwhelmed and about to black out of the thought of having exactly what she wanted most, but just a few short days ago had been convinced she could never have. Instead, she sat on the stool at the bar and smiled when he brought over a covered dish, containing an omelet overflowing with cheese, some fruit cut up in a little bowl, and two of the cutest little doughnuts on a small plate. It was almost everything she wanted, all on a silver platter.

"Almost everything?" Ranger asked, letting her know she was thinking aloud.

"Yeah, what I want most of all is currently holding the platter."

"You're sure your Family is okay with this?" Tank asked a second time.

"It's fine," Connie assured him. "Tony took care of Mickey himself since he felt like the problem was all because he delegated it. He's already sent over a token to RangeMan with a note."

"And the girl?" Tank followed up.

"Already bribed with a carton of cannolis from Giovanni's, with the promise that if she calls me as soon as Ranger leaves, I'll send her another care package from there, made up of anything she wants. She'll swear that Mickey was her boyfriend and she had told him about Stephanie taking her in to be rebonded as the reason why she'd stood him up on the date when he was about to propose. She'll say he went ballistic about Stephanie messing up his proposal and told Lisa all about it, but never got around to popping the question again because he was obsessed with Stephanie ruining his plan."

"You're good at this," Tank complimented Connie, relieved that it sounded like a plausible reason for Stephanie's abduction and return. "I'll be in touch," he told them, getting up and walking to the door. He'd either be able to come back and thank her for taking care of this whole FUBARed kidnapping cover, or he'd send her a postcard from Russia once his fingers thawed enough to hold a pen.

By the time he got back to RangeMan, he knew a package would be waiting to kick off this plan. Then he'd find out if the vaccines he'd just gotten were going to have time to take effect. Maybe he'd be able to find out if Ranger and Stephanie had finally come clean with each other. If he was going to be dumped in a crate, it would be nice to know his boss had somebody around to watch out for him while Tank was gone.


	17. Unraveling

_I do not deserve the credit for the characters below—that belongs to JE. I do deserve the blame for the mess they find themselves in._

_Jenny (JenRar) thank you for the fast turnaround on this chapter and for all your work as the beta on this story._

**Chapter 17 - Unraveling**

"I don't understand," Stephanie said after reading the note for a third time.

The grimace on Ranger's face looked like it was eating at him that he couldn't explain it because he didn't understand it, either.

_It came to my attention this morning that an associate of mine attempted to harm something important to you. As a token of my sincerest apology, please accept this as proof that he will never attempt such an offense again._

Ranger knew Connie's Family was powerful, and the fact they were an active mob organization wasn't secret, so receiving the small finger, complete with a family ring still attached near the knuckle, wasn't an unusual way to make a point.

"Do we know who this belonged to?" he asked.

"Michael Tomasino—Mickey to his friends." Lester opened a file and scooted it across the table to where Ranger and Stephanie were seated side by side.

"He was a new guy with the Family and hadn't made much of a name for himself, except that he had a big mouth and didn't mind telling people he had big plans to move up the organization quickly," Santos added.

"And he had a woman," Tank jumped in, knowing he needed to get the motive in quickly to be believable. "Connie reported that Steph picked her up a couple of weeks ago for B&E. Apparently, Mickey wanted to propose that day, and it caused the woman to miss his plans while she was getting rebonded. He blamed Stephanie for ruining the night and wanted her to learn a lesson about interfering in people's lives. He hoped you would reinforce that idea too."

"Who was the woman?" Stephanie asked.

Tank realized he'd spent the morning planning how to cover his bases with Ranger, but hadn't thought to look into how Steph would perceive the motive.

"First name was Lisa. She rammed her car into a glass wall in a bakery so she could get to the cannoli display inside," Tank knew the name wouldn't tell her as much as the details of the crime. "Apparently, you and Lula went in and had coffee and cookies with her before you took her to the TPD."

Stephanie squinted and then smiled. "Oh yeah. She tried to tell me I had no idea what it was like to need sugar and to not be able to get any. I was able to convince her I understood completely about sugar hormones, but there were ways to temper it without ramming a bakery with your car."

"How do you temper sugar hormones?" Ranger asked her, leaning in closer to hear her answer.

If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, Tank might have had trouble believing it. Ranger was flirting with his woman in front of all of everybody. Her face turned red. Tank knew she could blush, and with her light complexion, the color would show up easily, but this was like somebody turned on a Christmas decoration.

"I know you had doughnuts for breakfast, but I can help you if you feel like those little ones weren't enough," he added, causing her face to get even darker.

She pushed at his arm, as though turning him down, but he caught her hand and brought it to his lips to kiss.

"Well, I'll be damned," Lester said, sitting back in his chair and grinning like he'd just won the lottery. "You guys finally did something about it, didn't you?"

"About what?" Stephanie asked, too curious for her own good.

Ranger didn't need prompting to understand. He pulled on Stephanie's hand and had her move from her chair to his lap. Once she got over the initial shock of the public display, she leaned into the boss and melted against him. "Yeah we did," Ranger answered for them. "Any problems?"

"Only that it took you so long," Bobby replied, grinning like his partner. "So we've got Steph in our family now?"

"But what is she?" Les jumped in. "A mother to go with Ranger as the father figure, a sister to pick on… Oh! How about a kissing cousin?"

"Mats, 0500," Ranger demanded, apparently not approving of the last option at the very least.

"I'm your friend, like I've always been," Stephanie suggested.

"Looks like you're more than a friend to the boss," Les foolishly added.

Ranger looked like he was about to extend mat time with Santos, but Stephanie reached out and touched his face. It was brief, but it must have been enough to change his attitude, because Ranger continued to look her in the eye while responding, "Yeah, she's much more than a friend to me."

This time, it was Bobby's turn to risk morning abuse with the boss. "How much more?"

"She's mine," he answered with such finality that everybody knew they'd figured it out and would be okay.

Tank knew that at this point, if the back story fell apart, it would be worth it to take whatever Ranger dished out. He deserved it for interfering in his friend's life, and he knew Stephanie could help to keep Ranger under control if his fighting side began to rise up. They'd be good for each other, and that was all he wanted to see.

"Wait a minute," Steph blurted out, sitting up straighter in Ranger's lap and making us all look at her in fear that she was about to crush our brother's heart right. "Lisa didn't have a boyfriend."

Ranger smiled, something Tank hadn't seen a long time, and then asked, "Why do you think that, Babe?"

"Lisa was complaining about not having…companionship…in a long time and that was why she needed the sweets. If she had a boyfriend, then she would have had a way other than driving through a closed bakery," Stephanie explained, obviously uncomfortable talking about sex in front of a group.

Fortunately, Ranger was completely focused on Stephanie and not looking at Tank, who grimaced at her announcement.

"Why don't we take a little drive to see what Lisa can tell us about her now deceased friend," Ranger suggested.

"I'm not on lockdown?" Stephanie questioned, looking confused about why Ranger was suggesting they leave the building.

"No," he quickly assured her. "If we believe Connie's Family, the threat has been eliminated. Plus, you aren't leaving my side, so there's no way you're going to be harmed while I'm with you."

Tank figured truer words hadn't been spoken. If the way Ranger was looking at Stephanie in his lap was any indication, he'd give her anything she asked for, but he wasn't going to leave her alone.

After the boss and his woman left, the guys broke up, giving Tank an excuse to head downstairs to freshen up and shave. Before he stepped into the shower, he moved to his closet and grabbed his heavy parka, thermal underwear, and three toboggans to keep his hairless head warm. He threw them in a duffle and tossed in his ready pack toiletry kit on the off chance Ranger might be generous and pick up the bag before throwing Tank's ass on a plane.

Stephanie was staring off into space, not touching her meal, which made it abundantly clear she had something on her mind.

"Let's hear it, Babe," Ranger prompted, always curious what was going on in her head.

"Something isn't right," she said, confirming what he thought, so he motioned in the hope she'd keep talking. "I know Lisa said everything she needed to, and it all tied to what Tank said in the conference room, but I'm telling you, it doesn't match what I remember when I picked her up."

"You think she's lying?"

"Yes, but I don't know why, and that's why I've got all these bells going off that don't make sense," she explained. "Maybe I'm remembering something wrong."

"Do you think that's possible?" he prompted, hating the way she was second-guessing herself.

"No, but just in case my brain has been fried from too many kidnappings, I know how to find out," she offered.

"How?"

"Let's go by the bonds office and ask Lula. She was with me and went in to have some coffee and cookies before we took Lisa back to be rebonded. She'll remember the conversation too and can let me know if I'm confused." Then, as though she thought Ranger still needed convincing, she added, "You know, Lula is really good at reading people. She may be a little rough around the edges, but she sees more than people give her credit for."

"You don't have to convince me," he told her. "I've observed firsthand just how gifted a communicator Lula can be when she wants to be."

They left the diner and went to the bonds office, with Stephanie trying to get Ranger to explain that remark and him being aloof as usual. He knew he could answer her questions, but it was more fun to watch her try to needle the information out of him instead.

"Where you been hiding?" Lula blurted out when she saw Ranger and Stephanie walk in the office, hand in hand. She knew it wasn't the smoothest opening line, but she was so relieved to see her friend alive and well that she just let the first thing out of her mouth that popped in her head.

"I don't actually know where I was hidden," Stephanie replied, glancing back at Ranger and then shrugging, as though she knew better than to expect him to answer. "But I've been at RangeMan since the guys found me."

"I'm glad you're okay," Lula told her, wishing it was easier to talk about feelings with Stephanie, because she wasn't entirely sure this little wisp of a girl knew how much she meant to the much-larger woman.

"There's something I need your help with," Stephanie began, making Lula smile.

There was no getting that girl down. It was the main thing Lula admired about her. Kidnappings, car bombings, repossessions, apartment break-ins…the list was endless, and Steph kept bouncing back from it.

"Name it," Lula quickly volunteered. "I didn't bring my gun, but I've got on good shoes for kicking some ass."

Ranger looked away, and Lula could have sworn he was smiling, but that would be impossible 'cause Batman don't smile—he glared, grimaced, and occasionally he grunted, but he never grinned.

"Actually, I just need to pick your brain," she answered.

That was somewhat disappointing, because going out with Stephanie was always a good time, but it was close to closing time, and this way she didn't have to worry about getting out of the office early enough to beat the traffic to the drive-thru at Cluck in a Bucket. Mary Lou had given her a gift card and told her to treat herself to whatever she wanted, so she was picking up a family meal to snack on all night.

"Do you remember the woman we picked up that gave us coffee and those little cookies that were rolled up with chocolate and caramel inside?"

Hell yeah, she remembered it. Some of the caramel had dripped on her shirt, and she'd tried to get it off, but it smeared and dried so it looked like her titty was leaking. Vinnie didn't stop staring at her chest when she got back to the office. "I remember."

"Did you get the impression she had a boyfriend?" Stephanie asked, putting Lula on the spot.

She didn't want to lie to her friend. They'd been through a bunch of shit together, and Lula liked the fact that she could trust this girl, no matter what. Lying went against that. But she also knew the truth about what Tank and Connie were trying to do, and she didn't want to betray that big, tasty mountain of a man, either. Especially not after she'd gone through the effort of finally talking to a pharmacist about her problem with cats. If Ranger killed him, all the pills she'd taken would be for nothing. She knew good and well that skip didn't have a boyfriend, because the whole time they were eating her desserts, she was complaining about being horny with no way to get relief except with sugar. Looking down, she saw her newly polished nails tapping on the desk and immediately pulled them away. Slick B said shit like that was a tell that somebody was nervous, and now wasn't the time to be antsy.

"She was complaining about being horny and needing sugar to take care of the itch," Lula began, not able to completely change the truth. Then she decided to try to taint it just a little by adding, "But she had a picture of her with a guy who was kind of pudgy on the cabinet. So, maybe she had a boyfriend, but he wasn't puttin' out, so she was having to take things into her own hands."

Stephanie's eyes narrowed, and she put her thumb up to tap on her lips. That was her standing-up thinking pose, so Lula waited to see if she'd call bullshit.

When Stephanie spoke, her voice was soft, almost like she was talking to herself. "I didn't see a picture, but I didn't not see one, either."

It was comments like the last one that made people sometimes think the white girl was crazy. What did that even mean?

Finally, Steph seemed to come to a decision and shrugged. "I guess there's no way to know for sure."

Ranger rubbed his hand over her back, and Stephanie seemed to relax. Hopefully, she'd let this go and concentrate on making something with that fine thing next to her. Lula wondered if maybe could help with that too.

"You two look mighty comfortable together. Something change?"

They looked at each other and smiled. It wasn't big—they didn't show teeth or nothing—but it was sweet. No way they could deny it after that smile.

"Yeah, you could say something has changed," Stephanie answered, looking at Lula.

"Good for you," Lula congratulated them. "You gonna share any details?"

Stephanie's face turned red, and Lula shook her head at how easy it was to embarrass her. Considering how open and accepting she was of everybody, it was amazing how uptight she could be when it came to talking about sex. Maybe once she and Batman got used to doing it, and Lula could get Steph by herself, then she could get a little of the dirt from her. As they stood up to leave and Lula got a look at the ass on Ranger, she questioned whether or not a person could ever get used to doing anything with a naked Batman.

"You're awfully quiet," Ranger commented as they drove back to RangeMan.

"Am I?" Stephanie asked, still lost a bit in her thoughts. "Can we go somewhere?"

He changed lanes and pulled over on the side of the road to turn and face her. "We can go anywhere you want. Name it, and I'll make all the arrangements. We can leave as soon as you're packed."

Who was this man, and where had he been for the last few years? Who knew Ranger could be spontaneous and just shirk his responsibilities at the drop of a hat? She shook her head to clear it out, because as much as she loved the thought of going off with Ranger, she knew she wouldn't be able to enjoy it just yet.

"There's something stuck in my head, and I need to think it through, but I want to be outside to do it. Can we go to a park or someplace where the guys won't happen upon us?"

Without asking a question, he nodded once and turned back to see out the windshield before pulling back into traffic. If she wasn't already convinced that she loved him, the way he took what she needed as important enough to do without questioning would have pushed her over the edge. It meant the world to her.

Four minutes later, he was holding her hand and walking across a grassy lawn to a small city park and nature center. "What is this?" she asked, knowing she'd driven by the parking lot plenty of times, but since people tended to exercise here, she never bothered to turn in and see what was here.

"It's a rails to trails path," he explained, pointing to a sign that described how the old railroad track had been removed and a smooth foot and bike path had been laid down in its place, through the protected land with trees, wildflowers, and other interesting things to see as you traveled the two-mile loop.

"Were you planning on jogging?" Stephanie asked, hating the idea of having their first fight so soon, but there was no way she was running the day after being drugged and kidnapped. Who was she kidding…there was no way she was running period.

"No running," he assured her, pointing to some picnic tables near the tree line. "There's a place to sit here where you can think and we can talk, without anyone seeing us."

They settled down, and she looked around, realizing this was the exact thing she needed. How did he know exactly where to bring her from what she'd said in the car?

"If you'd give me the chance, I'd meet any need you might have, Babe."

She would have made a comment about him having ESP, but something about that sentence made her want to list other things just to see how he'd attempt to meet the need. There was a throbbing…

"If you finish that thought, then our coming here will have been for an entirely different purpose, because I'll take you into the woods until I'm reasonably certain we're far enough from prying eyes for me to relieve that throbbing." He held her gaze for a moment before changing the subject. "What's troubling you?"

"I don't buy it."

"What? That I'll take you in the woods?" Ranger questioned, standing up and holding out his hand.

Stephanie laughed, knowing that he would do it if she said she wanted him to. "No, I know you'd do that. I mean Lula and Tank and the whole Lisa situation. Lula was lying at the bonds office, but I'm not sure which part was the lie," Stephanie confessed.

Ranger chuckled and pulled her to sit closer to him.

"You like to control where I'm sitting, don't you?" she asked, remembering him repositioning her in the conference room earlier.

"Only when you're too far away," he admitted, looking down quickly. "Tank was lying too."

"I don't get it," she confessed. "I know there was some truth in there. I recognized the guy who took me from the picture Lester showed me, so I know it's the right guy."

"Then it must be the motivation that's wrong," he suggested.

"But why would Lula and Tank lie about why somebody kidnapped me from my own apartment?" she wondered.

They sat there in silence, Stephanie leaning against Ranger, with his arm around her holding her to him. "Has anybody else acted suspiciously lately?"

She thought about the question. "No one has been strange by themselves, but it is a little weird that over the last week, four of the guys have spent time with me and basically shared their own stories so I could know them and you better. Your guys aren't really known for being open about their past, so that makes it strange. Did you pick up on anything?"

"Lula and Connie have both been treating me differently lately," Ranger admitted, knowing it wasn't coincidence. "And didn't you find your mother's behavior at dinner the other night unusual?"

Stephanie shrugged. "No. Yes...well, sort of."

Ranger chuckled, but wisely said nothing.

"I mean, she's always said stuff to me and tried to push me into a marriage of some sort, so that part wasn't unusual. It's really weird to see her openly drinking at the table instead of at least trying to hide it in the kitchen. And she's never attacked a guest over dinner before. Usually, her attacks are for me and me alone. But a lot of what she was saying was so familiar, I don't know if I could include her in the group of people acting differently."

"At the very least, it's coincidental enough that it's hard to ignore," Ranger pointed out.

"So all of my friends are after you, and all of your friends are after me," Stephanie summed up.

She stood up quickly and held out her hand to Ranger, hoping he'd agree to follow her a little further down the rabbit hole of this wild ride. "Come on."

He didn't even hesitate. If anything, he seemed to be smiling a little, indicating that he was having fun. "Where to?"

"We're going to see Mary Lou," Steph explained. "She's the only one missing from this band of misfits, which means she's either completely innocent, or the ring leader. Either way, Mare can't lie, so I'll know as soon as she opens the door."

"You know, it's kind of a turn-on to see you so in charge and running down leads," Ranger commented when they got to the Turbo.

"Let's hope she's home so we can sort this out and then leave quickly."

"Why do we need to leave fast?" he wondered.

"Because it's a major turn-on to have you with me while I'm running down leads, and nothing gets me going more than getting to the bottom of a mystery."

Ranger didn't say a word, but when he floored the accelerator, Stephanie figured he was speaking volumes anyway.


	18. It All Comes Out in the End

_The characters below are from the creating genius of JE, not me._

_Jenny (JenRar) thank you so much for your hard work as the beta on this story. _

**Chapter 18 – It All Comes Out in the End**

A knock at the door pulled Mary Lou from the middle of a chapter in the newest book she'd purchased on her Kindle. She sighed and admitted it was hard to read more than a few pages, so she shouldn't be so irritated by the interruption. If it wasn't the front door, it would be one of her boys running through the kitchen with a bloody knee or an empty stomach.

Stephanie and Ranger were on her doorstep, which was unexpected, but in the best possible way. It was the first chance she'd had to see them together, and she couldn't help but notice how Ranger was standing right behind Steph with his hands on her hips. She knew from what Steph had said about him that he was probably in that position as much out of the desire to be sweet as he was out of a need to keep her safe and shield her from any threats with his own body. No matter the reason, they looked wonderful and natural together, and she couldn't help but notice how happy her friend looked.

"Hey, guys. What brings you to my neck of the woods?" she asked, stepping back so they could come in.

While she was shutting the door, she heard something crash upstairs and knew she'd have to clean that up later. "Is anybody bleeding?" she called out, knowing better than to ignore it complete.

"Not much," John yelled back.

"Keep it off the carpet." She'd long ago learned if no one was screaming, it wasn't bad enough to get worked up over. They never had trouble calling for Doctor Mom when it was necessary, so she was going to let it go and trust they'd call if something worse happened.

"Is it a bad time?" Steph asked, obviously not as comfortable ignoring the kids as Mary Lou was.

"No, it's perfect," she assured them, leading the way to the kitchen, where she had some cookies she could offer and some raspberry tea she wanted to try for guests.

"We don't want to intrude, but I wondered if you could tell me anything about why all of our friends have been hiding something from us the last few days," Steph blurted out.

That was unexpected. Fortunately, she had her back to them grabbing the tea pitcher, so she stayed in that position to grab some glasses too and buy a little time to get her game face on.

"What do you mean, all your friends are hiding something?" She used to be able to throw off her teachers in school by asking questions and getting them off the subject. The more she could get Stephanie to talk, the more likely she was to get sidetracked and forget why she came.

"I knew it!" Stephanie practically yelled. "I knew you would be in the middle of this."

"What on earth are you talking about?" Mary Lou asked, spinning around to find out what exactly she was being accused of. She knew her cheeks were probably a little red and her neck and chest was splotchy. She hated that she embarrassed so easily, but there was nothing she could do about it.

"Oh my goodness." Stephanie pointed at her neck. "Not only do you know about it, but you planned the whole thing, didn't you?"

Ranger was watching the two women like a tennis match was happening in front of him.

"Before you get mad, maybe you'd better sit down so I have a chance to explain," Mary Lou prompted, knowing if she didn't put an end to this quickly, Stephanie would get worked up and might storm out.

"I was having lunch at Pino's last week and thinking about you and how…well, how grumpy you'd been lately. I wasn't the only one who noticed it," she added in her defense. "Lula and Connie were both at the point where they almost dreaded you showing up at Vinnie's. Over the last couple of weeks, you'd gotten cranky, snappy, and irritable."

"So instead of talking to me about it, you decided it made more sense to put your nose in my business and go behind my back?" Steph accused.

Mary Lou grimaced, knowing that was exactly what she'd done, and hoped she could make her friend understand it was the only option available at the time.

"I tried talking to you," she pointed out. "I called you, I invited you to dinner, I showed up at your apartment with cookies… You shut me down, lied, and said nothing was wrong, and the last time you said even if you had something to tell me, there was no way I'd understand." That had hurt. Just because she might not have been through the same experience, she'd always tried to understand and sympathize with what Steph was enduring. She'd always been in her corner and couldn't believe Steph refused to acknowledge that.

"When I saw Tank, I thought I'd talk to him," she continued her story. "He was kind of slow to warm up to me, but eventually he started talking, and as it turned out, Ranger had been just as moody as you had been and the guys were at the end of their rope in knowing what to do."

Stephanie put her hand over her mouth until Ranger nudged her with his elbow. "The idea of Tank calling you moody is kind of funny," she explained.

"I wasn't moody," he assured her.

Steph attempted to raise an eyebrow and failed in the cutest way. It made Mary Lou giggle.

Ranger must have thought she was laughing at him, because he glanced her way and added, "I'm never moody, but I may have been a little shorter with my responses to the men."

"Whatever you want to call it, Tank and I agreed that the reason you were both becoming impossible to live with was because you wanted to be together, but were each convinced you couldn't be," she summed it up. "So we decided to recruit a little army to help us show you guys what we knew was true so you could realize it yourselves and act on it." She looked between them and couldn't resist asking, "You have acted on it, right? I mean, I haven't been busted for nothing, have I?"

Stephanie smiled a little, and she began to relax, figuring even if she was mad, she'd eventually come around.

"We've figured stuff out," Steph confessed. "But if you want us to believe you were only thinking of our best interests, then you need to confess everything that you planned."

Knowing she couldn't stop now, she began with what she knew and took them through everything she'd arranged with Lula, Mrs. Plum, and Connie. After she finished with her part, she was about to start with Tank's ideas, but she noticed Ranger's jaw was flexing. She didn't know Ranger well, but she knew when Lenny was just about to start yelling, he always did that very same thing.

"You mean, Steph was drugged in her apartment and taken to a filthy office on the wharf, where she was left unconscious and alone while her body reacted to the shit he injected in her, because of your plan to get us together?" Ranger was practically whispering, yet she caught every word.

"No!" Mary Lou was horrified that he thought that. "You were drugged and taken from your apartment?" She turned the question on Stephanie. "When did this happen?"

"Yesterday afternoon," Steph answered, waving the question off in her typical way. She always hated being the limelight.

"When I talked to Connie, she said she had a cousin who owed her a favor, and she would have him stop by your apartment and ask you to come back to the Family home to see Connie, then he'd leave a note behind in your apartment so when Ranger stopped by the next time, he'd find it and think you'd been kidnapped, which would hopefully prompt him to admit how it made him feel. You weren't going to be drugged. You weren't supposed to be hurt or frightened in any way. That was never part of the plan," Mary Lou assured her. "You have to believe me, I'd never set up something that I thought would hurt you."

"I believe you," Steph was quick to forgive, "but I think something happened and Connie deviated from the plan."

Mary Lou sat down hard on a stool and shook her head. "This is why I don't interfere in other people's business. No matter how carefully you plan everything, something always goes wrong."

"That's not true," Ranger spoke, surprising her. "The plan was a good one and probably would have worked without us realizing it if Connie's cousin hadn't decided to ignore his instructions."

"How do you know that's what happened?" Mary Lou wondered.

He shrugged. "Just a hunch."

Steph's eyes were unfocused, and Mary Lou waited, knowing her brain was spinning and would slow back down in a minute.

"Let's call her," Steph finally suggested.

"What?"

"You've got speaker phone on your handset, right?" Steph asked. When Mary Lou nodded, she kept talking. "Call Connie at the bonds office and ask her what happened with her cousin picking me up. Make it like you don't know things went wrong and see what she says."

"I don't know, Steph..." Mary Lou wasn't thrilled with that idea. "I'm not a very good actor. You knew right away that I was involved, and I hadn't even said anything."

"I could see you were nervous and trying to distract me," Steph offered. "Connie doesn't know you like I do, and she won't be able to see you over the phone."

Mary Lou didn't want to do it, but she knew she needed to do something to show Stephanie she was sorry about meddling in her friend's life. So, she picked up the phone and called the number she had memorized.

"Plum Bail Bonds," Connie answered after two rings.

"Hey, Connie. It's Mary Lou." She tried to keep it casual, but she knew she was talking twice as loud as usual.

"What can I do for you?" Connie returned, not seeming to suspect anything.

"How did things go with your cousin picking up Steph the other day? I haven't heard anything, and I'm curious if we need to keep the plan rolling forward."

"Well, you don't need to do anything else, because she and Ranger are together," Connie began. "I haven't seen them, but Lula has, and she said they were finally relaxed around each other, and she bet if Steph hadn't gotten enough of her hormone build-up relieved already that Ranger would keep at it until she was back on an even keel."

Steph made a face, as though that image were equal parts amusing and disgusting. Ranger simply raised an eyebrow at her and looked fully confident that he could relieve any hormone surges she might have. Steph must have agreed, because she rolled her eyes at him and then motioned for Mary Lou to keep talking.

"Did you tell Steph why we did it?"

Connie laughed. "No. Tank came over this morning, completely worked up that he was going to be shipped off somewhere cold as a punishment for interfering and getting Stephanie hurt. So we came up with a plan to be sure they never figured out we were involved."

"Wait," Mary Lou interrupted. "Stephanie got hurt? I thought you said she wouldn't be in any danger."

"Well…" Connie paused. "Tony had a date the night he was supposed to do it, so he called in one of the new guys who wanted to work for the Family and gave him the job of picking her up, and he explained it was important that the guy get her to come with him and that he didn't leave any trace about who he was. Then he made the mistake of saying it would be easy and to think of it as a training exercise for kidnapping somebody. I guess the guy took it to heart and planned it out as though he were picking up somebody from a rival Family. He drugged her and hauled her out to hide her body and then called Ranger to set it up as a real kidnapping."

"That's horrible," Mary Lou replied, feeling it was true. "Steph must have been terrified."

"I think she was too sick to be scared. I guess she had an allergic reaction to the drug—plus, he gave her enough to bring down a small horse, and she got sick as a dog," Connie explained, filling in the remaining details. "In the end, it was okay because it did what it was supposed to do. Steph and Ranger are together, and after a little medical attention, she's okay."

"But don't you think Ranger is going to hunt down this guy that took her?" Mary Lou might not know much, but she could see the look in Ranger's eye and knew he wanted somebody to pay for putting Stephanie through all of that—regardless of the motivation.

Connie laughed, which was probably a mistake. "No, he won't do anything, because when I told Tony what happened, he was furious and took out the guy that screwed up the assignment. In his business, if you can't follow directions exactly as they're given, then people get hurt, and this time, he was the one that paid the price. Tony sent a token to RangeMan with an explanation of what he'd done, so there is nobody for Ranger to go after."

"But what explanation did he give that would make Ranger think there was nothing more that could be done?"

"The guy who did it is dead, and we had Tank tell Ranger that it was revenge for Stephanie picking up his girlfriend as a skip. I paid off one of Steph's recent pickups to pretend to be nearly engaged to the now-dead guy, so everything is covered." Connie sounded so sure of herself that Mary Lou almost felt sorry for her.

Ranger and Stephanie were looking at each other and doing some kind of near-silent communication thing that was slightly unnerving.

Mary Lou chatted a little more and then made up an excuse to get off the phone. After the call disconnected, she looked at her friend and said the only thing she could. "I'm so sorry. I had no idea it would get that out of hand. I really only wanted to help, but I can see I made a mess of things."

"It's all right," Stephanie assured her. "And you've helped a lot just by getting all that information."

"So we're okay?" She was almost afraid to ask the question.

"We're okay," Steph promised, allowing Mary Lou to finally relax.

"What about everybody else?" she wondered.

"So far, everybody else has decided that continuing to lie to us is better than coming clean," Steph differentiated. "I hate it when people try to manipulate me, but I know I was being a total bitch, so I can sort of understand why you did it. What I refuse to understand is why they continued to lie about it once things began to unravel."

"You guys can be kind of scary," Mary Lou pointed out.

Ranger shook his head. "My men should know better. The moment they lied to me, they knew they were risking their lives."

Stephanie seemed to agree with Ranger. "Somebody is going to have to pay."

"But it was all my idea," Mary Lou interjected, trying to protect them. "I was the one that talked Tank into it. He never would have done anything if I hadn't made him."

"I've served with him for fifteen years, and I can assure you, it's impossible to make that man do something he doesn't want to do," Ranger argued. "And he knows the consequence for lying to me."

"Mats?" Stephanie asked.

Mary Lou didn't know what that meant, but she wasn't going to interrupt to ask.

He shook his head. "Siberia."

"I thought you only did third world countries," Steph replied. "Won't he be cold?"

Ranger nodded and then grinned. It wasn't an "I'm amused" type of expression; it was more of an "evil villain watching his plan come together" look.

Up until then, she assumed they were just joking, but the fact that Steph seemed to be serious made Mary Lou ask, "Wait. You're going to ship Tank to Siberia?"

He shrugged in a non-committed way. "There or somewhere like it. Tank hates being cold, so it's the best way to make my point. He'll know as soon as he comes to what he's being told. And then if he makes it back, I'll know he's been taught a lesson, and since he served his penance, he can resume his duties at RangeMan."

"You're going to drug him?" Steph interrupted.

"It's easier to get him in the crate that way," he deadpanned.

Mary Lou was beside herself that they were talking about drugging that sweet man and shipping him off to some kind of frozen tundra. "Please! Please don't do that to Mr. Tank. How about if I talk to him and let him know he needs to come clean?"

"No!" they both answered at once.

"You can't tell him anything." Steph was firm in that direction.

"But…" She was at a loss for how to argue with them. "Siberia? Does he even speak Russian?"

Ranger shook his head no. "He's had years to learn it, but he never has, which is part of what makes it perfect."

Another crash sounded from upstairs, with John calling out, "Mom, Will's getting blood on the carpet!"

"We'd better let you go. It sounds like you've got a war zone of your own to intervene in," Ranger commented as Mary Lou stood up.

Stephanie reached out and offered her a hug, which helped her to believe all had been forgiven by her oldest friend. When Steph pulled back, she held on to Mary Lou's arms to get her attention.

"You absolutely cannot say a word about this conversation to anybody—especially not Tank." Then, as if she didn't believe that sentence was enough, she held out her right hand with her smallest finger extended. "Pinky promise."

"Pinky promise," Mary Lou repeated, knowing there was nothing more she could do now, other than pray that Tank would either come clean with his boss, or have the forethought to pack a bag in advance.


	19. I Love It When a Plan Comes Together

_JE deserves the credit for the characters below that I'm giving such a hard time._

_Jenny (JenRar) thank you for your help as the beta on this story. _

**Chapter 19 – I Love it When a Plan Comes Together**

"Are you really going to send Tank to Siberia?" Stephanie asked when we were nearly back to the office.

"Probably," Ranger answered, not seeing a reason why he shouldn't. Tank was in charge of enforcing the protocols around the office, which meant he, more than anyone else, should know hiding the details about Stephanie's kidnapping wouldn't go unpunished. "You know Mary Lou is probably blaming herself right now for what I'm going to do to Tank."

Stephanie looked at him and smiled. "Yeah, she'll be beating herself up over that one for weeks. And by the time she gets over it, Tank should be back, which will cause her to start all over again."

"You sure you want her to suffer that much?" Ranger asked, loving the look on Stephanie's face, but also knowing she had a tender heart in most cases and might feel guilty later for causing her friend to worry.

"I'm not doing anything to her." Stephanie sounded so sincere in what he knew was a fake declaration of innocence. "She'd prefer it if I did, which is exactly why I'm not." Then she laughed. "If you really wanted to mess with Tank, you'd let it go a little while and then jump once he was convinced he had pulled it off."

Ranger laughed, realizing this situation was a lot more fun since he had Stephanie to share it with. It was hard to remember now why he'd insisted his life didn't lend itself to relationships. "I'll know the second I walk into his room what he's expecting. If he has a duffle on the floor by the door, then I'll know he was aware of the risks and accepted them. If not, then waiting might be more fun, since he must not realize how aware we are."

"That takes care of Tank, but what about Les and Bobby, or even Lula and Connie?" she prompted. "They all played an equal part." Stephanie placed her soft fingers on his forearm and suggested, "We could dump Tank in Siberia with Lula. Then it would help them to understand what it's like to have someone meddle with your personal life, and it would force Tank to not only have to be somewhere he hates, but do it with somebody talking the entire time, complaining about it."

Thankfully, he was in the parking lot by the time she made her suggestion. "Oh man, that's cruel, Babe. If I didn't already know better, I'd ask you to remind me not to get on your bad side."

"As for Bobby…" She was lost in thought, so he waited and was rewarded with a sly smile. "We could let him think I had a complication from the drugs from the kidnapping."

"What kind of complication?" Ranger was curious where her mind was going.

"Oh, I don't know." She was still staring straight ahead. "Tell him I'm still in pain or I can't keep anything down. Or…" She turned to look him right in the eye. "Tell him the drugs have caused my body to burn off all the sugar in my system so that I'm ravenous all the time. Totally out of control with…urges."

"You want one of my men to believe that you're too horny for me to satisfy," Ranger restated, hoping she picked up on how ridiculous that suggestion was.

"There's got to be something we can do that will make a point to all of them…"

Stephanie seemed to get lost in her thoughts, and Ranger marveled at his woman. Being able to call her his and know that everyone could recognize it now made him smile. Her eyes narrowed, and Ranger was reminded of the thought that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. She hadn't been rejected like the saying spoke of, but she was still bent on revenge of some sort. When her lips turned up in a tight smile, he was both eager and anxious to hear what she'd thought of. Something told him it was going to be good.

"How far are you willing to take this?" she asked softly, like lowering her voice would keep anyone from overhearing their discussion in the car.

"I'll take it all the way," he responded, figuring where Stephanie was concerned, it didn't matter how she'd intended the question; his response was still appropriate.

"I think we can work it so that we make our point easily enough to the whole group, but it's kind of out there as far as ideas go," she warned.

"Then let's go upstairs and discuss it over dinner," Ranger suggested, not wanting to miss a chance to take care of her and wanting to be free to work out whatever convoluted plan she might have come up with. He knew he'd go along with just about anything, simply for the fun of watching one of her ideas take flight.

"I think that's everybody," Steph announced, pleased with how the plan had taken shape. She ran through the list of names aloud: "Tank, Bobby, Lester, Lula, Connie, and Mary Lou."

Ranger had drawn the line and insisted they not include Hector or Cal in their scheme. Apparently, both men had reached out to him casually and let him know they'd spent time with Stephanie and had shared their own stories, but alluded to the fact that it could help him if he'd let it. That element of coming clean in part was enough to keep them out of the plan she'd come up with.

"I see now why you've run missions for so long," she commented as she looked for any weak areas in the timeline. "Planning this out was fun."

Ranger laughed at her comment and then got serious. "I'm done, you know."

"Done?"

"My official contract is over, so I own my life again," he told her, holding her gaze, as though willing her to understand what that meant. "They can still call me up for something, but it's completely my decision to take the assignment or not."

"No more going in the wind?" she dared to ask.

He shook his head. "Not unless I feel really strongly about the mission and the chance of success is high…or there's the ability to bring my own team—maybe this brilliant and sexy strategist I'm working with right now."

As he spoke, he moved closer to her and ended his words by closing his mouth around the juncture of her neck and shoulder. Her head fell back against the couch and she moaned. That sound only encouraged him to keep trailing kisses along her skin, and he pulled the neck of her shirt to get easier access.

A distant ringing broke the moment, and Stephanie realized Ranger's cell phone was announcing an incoming text. He growled at the interruption, but picked up the offending object to look at the message. "It looks like everything we needed is in place, Babe. Do you want to go ahead and put things in motion, or wait until tomorrow?"

His eyes moved quickly from her face to the bedroom and then back to her face. It was a difficult decision, but when she and Ranger came together again, she didn't want to be distracted by thoughts of what they'd just come up with for the group that had attempted to interfere with their lives and then lied about it.

Ranger laughed, which she didn't expect, so she glared at him, waiting for him to explain.

"I'm confident I can keep you from suffering from a split focus."

She knew he was right, but deep down, she was excited to see if she and Ranger could be more successful than the group that had moved against them had been at covering their plan. When she looked at the tablet with their roles written down, she knew he had his answer.

"All right, we can get started now, but when we come back to this apartment, you need to be prepared that I'm not letting you out again until I'm satisfied that all your thoughts are on me," he threatened.

"I'm pretty sure that by the time we're finished, I won't have any thoughts at all," she answered, fully confident it was true.

Ranger's smirk only reinforced that idea. "I'm glad to have a goal, Babe."

"Brown," Ranger spoke in his most commanding voice. "Seven."

"Your phone manners are horrible," Stephanie complained.

He shrugged, knowing that by 'Burg standards she was right, but at RangeMan, he only needed to get his point across... He didn't need to win Mr. Congeniality. Besides, the less words he used, the faster Bobby would move.

Two minutes later, there was a series of fast knocks at the door.

"You ready?" he asked, getting an excited nod in return.

She lifted her hand to prove she had everything she needed and then ran to climb in the bed like they'd rehearsed.

Ranger opened the door and stepped aside to let Bobby come in. The medic looked around, tightened the backpack slung over his shoulder, and then took off toward the bedroom without asking for directions or clarity about why Ranger had called him upstairs. Ranger followed him, anxious to see Steph in action, and curious if Bobby would just assume something was wrong with her even though Ranger hadn't said a word about Stephanie.

"Bomber," Bobby called out softly from the door. "Stephanie, it's Bobby," he continued, using his soothing voice that seemed to be something that only came out for her. He tossed the bag on the floor and sat on the bed next to her, brushing her hair away from her face and letting his hand pass over her forehead at the same time, no doubt checking for a fever.

"What's going on, sweetheart?" he asked, forcing Ranger to bite his tongue to keep from blurting out that Bobby had no right to use that pet name for his woman.

He hoped it would get easier the longer they were together, but after being forced to watch other men touch her when she belonged to Morelli, he couldn't stand the idea of anyone other than him touching her or being that close to her on the bed.

When she didn't respond, Bobby turned slightly, putting his back to Stephanie and looking at Ranger in the doorway. "What happened?"

Ranger refused to lie, not wanted to be accused of misleading Bobby and keeping him from responding appropriately the next time Steph really needed him. Instead, Ranger took a slow step and shook his head, providing the distraction Stephanie needed to move the hand closest to the medic.

"She found out she'd been lied to and misled by people she respected," he answered, pleased to see the initial confusion give way to understanding at the exact moment Stephanie pressed the stun gun to his neck and engaged it.

Bobby slumped over immediately.

Stephanie hopped up and ran her hands over Bobby's face softly.

"We can stop now, if you want," Ranger offered, wondering if actually hurting the people who had protected her for so long was taking its toll already.

"Oh no," she said quickly, shooting that idea down. "I'd just always wondered what his skin felt like, because I know his hands are rough, but his face seemed so smooth."

Ranger lifted an eyebrow in return, not sure what to say to that comment.

"He has to use a moisturizer. Even my face isn't this baby soft."

Only she would get sidetracked—by the fact that Bobby had soft skin, no less—from the fact that she'd literally just taken down an Army Ranger.

"Come on," he prompted. "Let's get him secured so we can move on to the next target on our list."

They worked together smoothly to get Bobby's hands and feet secured. Ranger went through his pockets and ditched anything that could be useful for what they had planned next. Then he went to the bathroom, pulled out a vile and syringe, carefully measured out the dosage Bobby had written out for him in case he ever needed to sedate one of the men, and injected it into Brown's arm. "We've got a couple of hours to finish up," he reminded her.

"All right." She seemed energized and ready for more. "You'll take care of Tank, and I'll call you once I have Lester."

Ranger pulled her to him and kissed her deep and hard. He didn't like the idea of splitting up, because he still felt the need to be as close as possible, but knowing she wasn't going to leave the building gave him a slight measure of comfort. Of course, that comfort didn't dispel the need to remind her of their plan for once they'd taken care of the guys here and what would happen when they returned to the apartment. Knowing he didn't want to waste the state Brown was in just because it was getting uncomfortable in his cargos, he forced himself to pull back and then smiled when Stephanie appeared to be dazed.

"Let's get this done so we can come back up here and finish what we started."

She nodded, still not seeming completely steady on her feet.

It was amazing how something could seem so brilliant on paper, yet feel entirely different once you're faced with the reality of it. Stephanie squared her shoulders and knocked on Lester's apartment door on four, hoping he'd answer it quickly so she didn't have any more time to think about how this could blow up on her.

"Hey, Beautiful," he answered, smiling at her in a way that said her appearance was unexpected, but welcome. "What brings you down here?"

She looked around in the hallway and glared at the camera.

"Do you wanna come in?" he offered, stepping back to make room for her to pass by him.

Once he'd shut the door, she looked up to the ceiling, wishing she was a better actress. Lester's joking persona dropped completely, apparently misinterpreting her glance upwards as an attempt to hold back tears.

"Hey," he called out, moving to stand in front of her and pull her into a tight hug, "What's going on?"

There was a brief moment of guilt over what she was about to do, but she remembered the state she'd left Bobby in upstairs and knew she couldn't let him be the only one that suffered. "Can I have some water?" she asked, knowing she couldn't make her move while he was hugging her, or she'd risk stunning herself as well.

Lester moved quickly to the kitchen, and when he turned his back on her to reach into the fridge for a bottle, she pressed the stun gun to his ass and hit the switch. After pulling him out of the cool appliance, she reached down and rubbed over the place she'd just shocked him, laughing at the idea of fondling him while he was unconscious. No wonder Bobby had been grinning so much over the past day. If he and Lester had worked things out, it would mean he had unlimited access to grab this firm rear end anytime he wanted to.

Shaking her head to clear it of the image of Bobby and Lester grabbing all kinds of firm things, she reached in her pocket and pulled out her phone to send a simple text to Ranger: _Les is down_. Then she used the zip-ties like Ranger had shown her, and finally, she pulled the pre-filled syringe from her purse and injected the small amount of sedative into the same ass she'd been rubbing seconds before. "Sweet dreams, Les," she called out, leaving his apartment silently and heading down to the gym to complete the next phase of the plan.

The sound of a fist on a bag hit her ears as soon as she stepped off the elevator. She slipped into the gym and stopped at the door, in awe of the view. Ranger was a sexy man, dressed in his tight T-shirt and multi-purpose cargos, which he wore tucked into his black boots. The sight in front of her was way beyond that. She knew she'd seen him in the gym before, but something about the view now, of him without a shirt, wearing only low-riding athletic pants, pounding the body bag in front of him, was not something she could turn away from. His muscles rippled with every move, and the short amount of time he'd been exerting himself had given his skin a thin layer of perspiration that she'd have said made him glisten, except she knew he'd object to that particular word. Real mean aren't cute, and they don't glisten, he'd no doubt attempt to correct her.

She was pulled from her mental musings by a deep voice behind her. "You enjoying the show, or were you planning on doing something other than stand here?"

She shrugged, amazed at how little privacy there was in the building. She'd already known it was true, but it still surprised her that even without calling him down, the big guy had figured out he was needed somehow. "I'm not sure what I can do, other than stand here."

"Go talk to him," Tank suggested.

"Can't," she refused, hoping that by keeping her answers uncharacteristically short, it would put him on edge. "We said everything we needed to upstairs."

"Did he hurt you?" Tank asked, his voice going down to practically rumble-level from his usual baritone.

Stephanie didn't answer. She wouldn't lie to the big guy, even though he'd done that very thing to her earlier in the day. Apparently her lack of a response was enough of an answer, because Tank drew in a slow deep breath through his nose and then moved quickly over to where Ranger was still pummeling the bag.

"Rangeman!"

Ranger didn't even blink. He just kept his focus on the black leather in front of him and continued to beat it without mercy. Stephanie used Tank's distraction to slip behind him and get into position.

"You can talk to me, or I can beat it out of you, but you can drop the silent shit right now," Tank commanded. "What the fuck did you do?"

Ranger stilled instantly and put his hands on the side of the bag, breathing hard and glaring at the large man in front of him. "Why do you automatically assume I did something wrong?"

Tank waited.

"Maybe somebody else did something," Ranger pointed out the obvious. "Sometimes, the actions of other people take things out of our control."

With that warning, Stephanie silently put the stun gun to Tank's back and hit the button, hoping it still had enough juice to bring down someone of his size. The immediate smack of a body on mats let her know her concern was unwarranted.

"The bigger they are…" Ranger said, smirking at his unconscious friend.

Stephanie gave Ranger the prepped needle, which he quickly injected into Tank before emptying his pockets and taking off his boots to tie his hands and feet together.

Picking up his cell phone, Ranger typed in a prescribed message and then waited for Cal and Hector to appear in the gym. "Here's the last one."

Hector handed a mobile surveillance unit to Stephanie and then looked at the large man on the floor. "Good thing we brought the cart."

Cal was gripping one of the large laundry carts Ella used downstairs. It would be a tight fit, but Tank would go in, and it would keep the guys from having to carry him up to the sixth floor.

"Are the others secure?" Ranger asked.

Hector pointed to the screen. "Si."

Stephanie looked at the small image in front of her and realized it showed Bobby and Lester each rigged up to a separate pole in the center of the spare walk-in freezer from Ella's RangeMan kitchen. They were blindfolded and about four feet apart. There was another pipe to the right of Bobby that Stephanie knew was for Tank. Once they were all secure, she knew they'd turn the cooling elements on so that by the time they woke up, it would be cold enough, they would assume Ranger had shipped them off somewhere.

"Gentleman," Ranger called out as they made their way to the gym doors with the loaded cart. "Thank you for your assistance and for your honesty."

"We wanted you guys together," Cal replied, "but we'd never be a party to something that hurt Stephanie."

She knew the fact that these men had played a role in bringing them together, but were honest with Ranger about it, was the difference in them not being included in their actions this night. They'd been loyal and didn't deserve to be punished. However, because they had still meddled in some form, Ranger felt justified in forcing them to help carry out the plan.

"One more stop to make," Steph reminded him after the guys walked out to finish securing Tank in the freezer.

"Come on, Babe." He held out a hand to her. "Help me get changed, and then we can drop that monitor off and get back home."

"If I go in that locker room, we won't get the monitor where it needs to be tonight," she warned him, not wanting everything they'd accomplished so far to have been in vain.

He seemed to consider it, but let her shove him in the direction of the locker room alone, only to reappear in five minutes, looking fresh and fully pulled together.

Fifteen minutes later, they huddled around the screen, verifying everything was in place. The angle of the camera made it impossible to tell the guys were in a freezer. There was some kind of white stuff all around them that looked just like snow on such a small screen.

"It's exactly what I would think Siberia would look like," she commented.

Ranger shrugged. "The snow's a lot deeper there, and they'd already have hypothermia if they were in northern Russia dressed like that."

She knew Ranger had set the conditions enough to fool the guys without allowing them to be in any real danger.

"Wish me luck," she asked of him before reaching for the door to slip out alone.

He leaned over and grabbed her to pull him to her for a kiss. "Go get 'em, tiger," he told her, reminding her of their pre-distraction ritual. In a lot of ways, it fit here too. "I'll be in the car when you're done. She can't see me from here."

With those final instructions, Stephanie pressed her hands against her cheeks and rubbed her fingers on the skin just under her eyes. She knew it would make it turn red and give the appearance that she'd been crying.

Lula jerked the door open after Stephanie knocked and smiled to see her friend unexpectedly at her apartment. "Lula, I need a favor."

"Sure," Lula agreed right away, stepping back so Stephanie could come in. "You want some chicken?" she offered, pointing to a bucket sitting on the couch.

Stephanie shook her head no and then added for effect, "I can't eat…not now."

"What's going on?" Lula asked, obviously picking up on the fact something serious had happened to have Stephanie in her apartment, looking upset and refusing food.

"Here." Steph shoved the receiver at Lula and pointed at the screen.

"What's this?" Lula asked.

"Ranger was so mad…" Stephanie began, remembering Ranger's advice to not talk too fast so Lula was assume it was because she was upset and struggling to find the right words. "He said something about being lied to, and mishandling evidence, and…he was just so…mad."

"What'd he do?" Lula was listening to Stephanie, but she hadn't taken her eyes off the portable monitor in her hand.

"I saw him looking at this, so I took it, but I can't keep it with me because he'll know what I've done. Can you…" Stephanie swallowed a few times, hoping it would make her voice sound more emotional. "Can you watch it and let me know when…or if…the guys get free?"

"This don't look like no third world country to me," Lula pointed out in disbelief.

"He said something about Siberia," Steph added, watching Lula's eyes grow big at the idea of the guys being shipped off somewhere that bleak and cold.

"That's in Russia, right? He'll send somebody to get them, won't he?" she asked.

"I don't know," Stephanie answered. "I've only known of him doing this once before when he shipped Hank off to some island in the Philippines. He didn't send a pickup then, and it took Hank four weeks to get back to Trenton."

"What'd he do?" Lula asked. "The Philippines don't seem as bad as Siberia."

"He was late three days in a row for monitor duty," Stephanie said, stretching the truth. Hank had been late, but it was because he'd been out partying with one of Ranger's sisters, which had caused him to be too exhausted to get up on time. "I guess the Philippines wouldn't be so cold, but he packed Hank up in a crate naked and dropped him into a city square like that. Apparently, the first two weeks of his time there was spent in jail for indecent exposure in front of minors."

She shivered at the thought of what he must have endured in jail, but knew he'd brought it on himself for messing with Ranger's sister, trying to hide it, and then bragging about it in the break room.

"Oh, here." Stephanie gave Lula a special phone that would reach the sat phone in the freezer with the guys. "I overheard Hector and Ranger talking about this earlier. I think it will pick up and answer on speakerphone after three rings and the guys will be able to hear you, but it will only work once, so don't call it unless you have a way to be helpful, because once you hang up, it won't ring and answer again."

"What am I supposed to do with this?" Lula was beginning to look panicked.

Stephanie pretended to have a text on her phone and didn't answer right away, staring at the blank screen of her iPhone. Satisfied she'd made her friend wait long enough, she replied, "I have to go, or Ranger will know I'm interfering with his men."

"You're just leaving this with me?" Lula's voice sounded devastated that Stephanie was leaving after dropping a bomb like this.

"You'll know what to do," Steph assured her, wondering if this might be more cruel than what the guys were enduring. "And if you're stuck, call Connie…or even Mary Lou. I'm sure between the three of you, you'll know how to help them get home."

Lula looked at the clock on the wall and nodded. "I'll call them now and get them all over here."

Stephanie reached out and hugged Lula tightly. She did it as a distraction because she knew she was about to smile, and if Lula saw that, she'd know Steph was trying to pull a fast one. But she also did it as a sign of support. She wasn't big on emotions and had never been a hugger with her friends like this, but at the moment, she felt the need to let Lula know that despite the fact she was pulling a trick on her, she still appreciated her. "I trust you," Stephanie whispered, getting a final grain of guilt as an homage to her 'Burg upbringing. She may not know how to serve a perfect pot roast, but she could serve up a message with a healthy dose of guilt as well as any homemaker from where she grew up.

She made a hasty exit and dashed out to the waiting car, where she climbed in just in time for Ranger to pull away from the curb.

"Any problems?"

"I don't think so," Steph replied as they drove through the darkness back to Haywood. "We won't let them suffer too much, will we?" she asked after a moment, finally voicing her worries for their friends.

"We can call it off at any time," he assured her. "But I think it'd be best to wait at least an hour to give the guys a chance to come to and try to figure out where they are and how they got there."

"Is there another screen for us to watch on?" she wondered aloud.

"We can pull up the secure feed on my laptop upstairs," he answered, knowing she'd be too curious to not watch what would happen.

"Can you pull it up in your office?" she asked.

"Sure, but I thought you'd be more comfortable in the apartment."

She tapped her lips with her thumb before answering. "I would be, but I think we should watch this to the end in your office."

"Okay. Why?"

"Because you made a promise about what would happen once we got back to the apartment, and I don't want to miss any of this, but once we walk through the door upstairs, I don't think I'll be able to stop thinking about what's going to happen as soon as we're done torturing everybody."

"We may have some time to wait before there's much to see," Ranger warned. "And my office has a lock on the door."


	20. Cold Shoulders

_The characters below don't belong to me since JE created them. But, boy oh boy, do I have fun with them anyway._

_Jenny (JenRar) thank you for battling through a sore wrist to keep me straight as the beta on this story._

**Chapter 20 – Cold Shoulders**

Everything Hurt. Tank couldn't remember the last time he'd tied one on so bad that he woke up with a hangover and in pain. How much had he drunk the night before? Wait, he didn't even remember drinking anything. That thought was alarming enough that his eyes tried to bolt open, but there was only darkness, and the sensation that something was over his face to keep him from seeing. Even without his vision, he knew was tied up to a tree, he'd obviously been drugged, and he was in some kind of fucking tundra. Damn, it was cold.

He knew it! He'd known Ranger was going to ship him off to Siberia. At least he had on pants. Then he wiggled his toes and realized that, while he seemed to have clothes on, he wasn't wearing boots. It would have been nice to know what time he was left here so he'd know how long it would be before he'd lose his extremities to frostbite.

Pulling on his restraints, he realized they were tight and felt like zip-ties. Of course they were. Ranger wasn't a fool. He wasn't going to make it something Tank could just break, because he knew if he pulled on these too much, they'd take the skin off his hands or just cut right through. Listening to his surroundings wasn't helpful. There wasn't much to hear, other than the blowing sound of wind. Luckily, Ranger had dumped him in a spot that wasn't in the direct line of the moving air. It was nice to know their friendship afforded him certain benefits still.

A moan to his left drew him to attention. "Who's there?" he barked out, wishing he had some water to get rid of the cotton mouth.

"Tank?" The responding voice was gravely and hard to distinguish.

"Brown?" Tank guessed, figuring it was either him or his partner.

"Yeah, it's me," he confirmed. "Where the hell are we?"

"I'm betting somewhere in Siberia."

"It's not cold enough for Siberia," came a dissenting voice.

"Santos?" Tank wondered who else had gotten shipped off because of his plan.

"Yeah, it's me…" Lester's voice sounded worse than Bobby's. "What happened exactly? The last thing I remember, I was bending over to get Stephanie some water from the fridge, and now I feel like I'm in a fridge."

"I was checking on her up on seven after Ranger called me, and the next thing I know, my ass is frozen and I can't see," Brown added.

"I was trying to figure out what was bugging Ranger in the gym," Tank confessed. "Now we're all here."

"Stephanie drugged us," Lester said, figuring out the common theme.

Ranger might have been involved, and this kind of thing had his MO written all over it, but Stephanie had definitely played a part. Considering what they'd attempted to hide from Ranger about Stephanie's kidnapping, he shouldn't be surprised.

"I told you that if those two got together, they'd be unstoppable," Bobby chimed in.

"You guys loose enough to get free?" Tank doubted it, but it didn't hurt to ask.

"Damn zip-ties," Les called out, with Bobby agreeing, letting Tank know they were all in the same situation. "My ass is numb," Les added.

"It's freaking Siberia," Bobby nearly growled. "Everything should be numb from the cold."

"No," Santos disagreed. "I think she stunned me in my ass and it's numb. Can you get soft tissue damage from the charge of those things?"

"Man, ain't nothing about your ass soft," Brown replied, laughing.

"Not that I ain't glad you two got your shit together, but can you talk about his assets some other time so we can focus on getting out of here?" Tank commanded.

"Ain't no getting out of here." Les was quick to give up. "We just got to stay awake and hope somebody comes across us to let us loose."

At that moment, a ringing sound interrupted. "Who's got a cell phone?" Tank asked, surprised Ranger hadn't taken them all before dumping them.

Neither of the guys seemed to think it was them, and after three rings, he heard a voice he couldn't believe.

"Tankie? Can you hear me?"

"Lula?" The cold must be messing with his brain.

"She said this would work, but I didn't know it would." Lula was rambling.

"Lula, who said what would work?" he asked. "Where are you?"

"I'm at the bonds office with Connie and Mary Lou," she offered, confusing him even more. "Stephanie brought me a monitor and said I could see you guys and that Ranger had dumped you in Siberia."

"Damn, man, how'd you know that's where we were?" Les interrupted.

"Hey, Lester." Lula was a lot of things, but she wasn't intentionally rude to people she thought of as friends; abrupt, maybe, but never rude.

"Lula, tell me more about what Stephanie said." Tank needed her to focus back on giving him more details.

"She said you'd been dumped, and she found out what Ranger had done and that she couldn't let him know that she was watching over you guys, but she wanted me look out for you in case you needed help."

"What kind of help can you give?" Tank began to hope once more that there might be a way out of this. He was pretty sure Stephanie was involved in the guys' punishment, and since she had pulled Lula, Mary Lou, and Connie into it, that must mean she was trying to teach them all a lesson.

"What you need?" Lula answered his question with one of her own. "She said the phone she gave me would call to yours and your phone would pick up without you being able to use your hands, but that I could only call you once, so I needed to make it count and not hang up until I was done."

"You can see us?" Bobby jumped in.

"Hey, Bobby," Lula greeted him first. "We can see you on the little screen. It's not clear like my flat screen at home, and it's old cause it's in black and white, but it looks like you're in a place that's dark, and there's white stuff on the ground around you."

Snow. Tank shook his head. Ranger had dumped him in the snow… Bastard.

"I'm so sorry, Tank," Mary Lou spoke up next. Apparently, they were on speakerphone.

"What for?" Tank couldn't figure out why she'd apologize.

She was as quick to take guilt as Stephanie was. No wonder they were friends. "This whole mess was my idea. They came by my house yesterday, and they knew about our plan. They figured out how you and Connie had made up the story about the mob guy and his fiancée. They made me promise not to tell you, and even though Ranger didn't smile when he said it, I figured he had to be kidding about sending you to Siberia. Nobody really does that."

"Wait," Lester interrupted. "What time and day is it?"

"It's eleven o'clock."

"Morning or night?" Tank pressed for more details. This was why military time was better. It negated the need for extra questions.

"At night," Lula spoke up again. "It's eleven on Saturday night, and let me tell you, this ain't how I planned on spending my weekend."

"What time was it when you went down to the gym?" Les spoke to Tank this time.

"It was Saturday, twenty-one hundred hours," Tank reported, realizing what Les was getting at. "We ain't in Siberia."

"Well, then you in Alaska," Lula announced. "Because you look cold and there's snow. You ain't in Trenton."

"Only two hours passed since we were aware of the time," Tank explained. "If we aren't in Trenton, we aren't far from it, because they didn't have time to tie us up, transport us, and set this up with you before we woke up."

"I'll be damned," Lula blurted out. "They lied to us! Why would they lie to us?"

Mary Lou brought the voice of reason. "To let us know what it felt like."

"Friends don't lie to each other." Lula was obviously upset about the idea that she'd been tricked into worrying.

"No." Again, Mary Lou tried to help them understand. "But we did it first, and we lied about something that caused Stephanie to get hurt. It wasn't our intention, but after it was over, we still didn't come clean, because we didn't want them to get upset with us. They're doing the exact same thing to us that we did to them. This has Stephanie's justice written all over it."

"Being drugged and shipped somewhere cold is really more Ranger's style," Lester argued.

"Yes, but you know how when Morelli took Steph at the Tasty Pastry in high school and then humiliated her by writing all over the bathroom wall about it?" Mary Lou countered, sharing a detail the guys weren't familiar with.

"He did what?" Bobby all but yelled.

"Oh..." Her surprise made it obvious that Mary Lou didn't realize they weren't familiar with all of Stephanie's past with the cop. "Anyway, she was so mad, not about how he tricked her into having sex with him, but that he couldn't keep it to himself afterwards, so she waited for him to cross the street in front of Giavanocci's Deli, and then she floored the gas on her car and ran into him. It broke his leg in front of the place where all the neighborhood gossips hung out. While he was lying on the asphalt, unable to get away, she stood over him and announced to all the old women what he'd done and how he should be ashamed of himself. That's Stephanie's style… He embarrassed her publicly, so she gave him a taste of his own medicine. She made him look defenseless and weak in front of all those women who had misjudged Stephanie based on his inability to keep his mouth shut."

Tank shook his head. He'd spent so much time fearing Ranger's strength that he'd totally misjudged Stephanie's power. Never underestimate your enemy—they drilled that into them in Ranger school. Not only had he underestimated her, he hadn't even acknowledged her as dangerous. If he ever got free from wherever this was, then he had some major apologizing to do.

"Can you tell us anything about the trees we're tied to?" Tank decided to focus on getting out of wherever they were, and then he'd figure out how to adequately apologize.

This time, Connie spoke up. "They don't look like trees. They look like poles. Honestly, if it weren't for the white stuff sprinkled around, I'd say you looked like you were in a walk-in deep freezer. My Uncle has one like that in his basement."

"This ain't snow," Les spoke up again.

"How you figure that?" Lula blurted out.

"It's not wet. Our body heat should have melted some it so that our pants would be wet by now, but I'm completely dry," Les explained, forcing Tank to realize it was true.

"Can't you guys do some kind of superhero shit and break out of the ropes?" Lula asked, both complimenting and insulting them all at once.

"We're just men, Lula," Tank reminded her. "We don't have super powers, and these zip-ties will cut deep if we pull against them too much."

"You had superpowers when we went out," Lula disagreed. "I remember that one time after I came to from passing out…Lord, you had me convinced you didn't even need oxygen."

"Hey, Lula." Tank spoke loud and fast to keep her from saying any more. "I appreciate you thinking so highly of me and all, but this ain't the audience I want to hear about that night."

She laughed, and Tank felt warmer somehow. "Hey, Lula." Obviously, his brain was freezing for him to be thinking like this. "If we get out of this, are you free for dinner tomorrow night?"

"You pick me up at eight, and I'll show you how free I am," she promised.

Now all he had to do was figure out how to get loose. "Bobby, if I manage to snap one of these, how much damage will it do to my hands?"

"I wouldn't try it yet," Bobby advised. "They ain't plastic. These feel military grade, which means they won't just break. You could end up cutting to bone, and even then, I can't guarantee they'd snap. If we aren't someplace clean, then that kind of deep cut could be majorly bad, especially if I can't get loose to sew it up."

All right, then brute force wouldn't do it. What else could fix this shit?

"Hey, Mary Lou." Lula apparently wasn't as quick to give up as he was feeling. "What do you think Stephanie would have done if Morelli had apologized for what he did?"

"She'd have forgiven him and maybe even given him another chance."

"How do you figure that?" Lula pressed again.

"Because when they saw each other again a few years ago, Joe apologized, and Steph helped to clear his name, and then…well, you all know their history. She hates being played for a fool, but she's really quick to forgive if somebody levels with her."

"It's how she treats her skips," Connie pointed out. "Think how many of them she's helped after they told her the truth about what they did and why."

"So if we'd come clean and not tried to cover up what we did, then you're saying my ass wouldn't be tingling and I wouldn't be stuck in what may or may not be a mafia deep freeze?" Les summed up.

"Any ideas on how we can get out of here?" Bobby threw out what they were all thinking.

Mary Lou broke the silence to suggest, "Maybe if you come clean with Steph and Ranger, they'll let you guys go."

"How are we supposed to do that while we're trapped in here?" Lester wondered, not shooting down the idea entirely.

"The phone," Lula blurted out. "We can go to RangeMan, demand to see Steph, and tell her how sorry we are and let her know that we'll be upfront about what we're doing the next time we're messing with her love life."

"There won't be a next time," Tank was quick to point out. "They're together now. It's up to them to keep it that way." Never let it be said he was man who didn't learn from his past mistakes.

"It doesn't seem right for you guys to have to apologize for us," Santos accurately pointed out. A man needed to stand up and own his mistakes.

"We'll take you with us," Lula suggested. "We'll bring the phone with us, and you can do your own talking."

There was some shuffling in the background, and then Connie announced that she would drive.

Santos chuckled, and Tank asked what was so funny. "It just hit me that we are literally riding into battle blindly."

"We ain't completely blind," Tank disagreed.

"Can you see through your blindfold?" Bobby wondered aloud.

"No." Tank continued, correcting his misunderstanding. "But we've got the women on the phone to help guide us, so we ain't exactly lost here."

"You got that straight," Lula declared. "We gonna get you guys loose from there and freed." She paused briefly before adding, "And then I'm gonna help warm you up, Tankie."

He made a growling sound, but it lacked much real irritation. Down deep, having Lula warm him up sounded perfect and exactly like the kind of image to keep himself distracted while he waited to see if Ranger and Stephanie would accept their apology or literally leave them in the cold.


	21. A Gentle Thaw

_The great JE still gets the credit for the cast of characters below._

_Jenny (JenRar) you are a wonderful beta, and I am thankful, each and every chapter, to have you working with me._

**Chapter 21 – A Gentle Thaw**

Ranger was magic. She'd always known it was true, but with her sitting in his lap, he seemed to have the ability to find every sensitive area on her neck and shoulders and understood exactly how much pressure to use to draw out the maximum amount of noise from her in response. If he could reduce her to goo just from necking in his office, then she didn't stand a chance once they got upstairs and he went beyond the easy access areas.

"You like that, don't you, Babe?"

Did he really expect an answer? Was he under the delusion that she could form a complete sentence at the moment? It was almost funny how during the day, he was Mr. Silent and she could talk about anything. But as soon as their hormones kicked in, he became the chatty one and she wasn't capable of speech. Fortunately, he seemed to enjoy the sounds she typically reserved for an unusually good piece of cake, so he got the answer he'd been looking for and sucked softly over her collarbone. That was probably going to leave a mark.

The idea of a guy marking her in some way usually irritated her—she wasn't cattle that needed a rancher's branding. But the thought of Ranger marking her for everyone to see that she was taken made her even hotter. This was why people said revenge wasn't worth it. Sure, they were teaching their friends a valuable lesson, but if they hadn't been stuck down here waiting to see what would happen, then she'd no doubt be on her second orgasm by now.

Ranger chuckled against her, causing Stephanie to try to pull away, but she wasn't completely in control of her movements and it looked more like she was swaying and dizzy. "Somebody's knocking on the door," he explained. "I didn't answer when my phone buzzed, so they're coming in person."

She nodded and attempted to get up, but he tightened his grip on her. "No." He was back to not talking, just when she needed his mouth to keep working. Seeing her confusion, he explained, "Whoever it is needs to get used to you being with me, and if they're going to knock when the door is closed, they can deal with the idea that I was in here with the most beautiful woman while they were out there watching monitors."

Stephanie narrowed her eyes at him. His explanation was sweet, but it didn't ring completely true.

He let out a breath and stopped short of rolling his eyes, but she could have sworn he was about to do it. "Plus, if you get up, it will be hard for me to keep a professional appearance." As he added the last sentence, he lifted his hips, and she immediately got his point.

"Enter," he barked out, waiting as they tried the knob and found it locked.

"Sir?"

"Pick it," he commanded, apparently not willing to get up to help them out.

Almost immediately, the RangeMan came in, showing that everyone in the world could pick a lock but her.

"I'll teach you sometime," Ranger whispered. "Getting you all bound up might be fun anyway, and then I'll show you how to get yourself loose."

A throat clearing brought their attention back to Vince, who was slightly red in the face and looking anywhere but at them.

"Did you have a report?" Ranger prompted when Vince didn't seem to be able to speak.

"Sir." He nodded and then cleared his throat. "There are three women at the front desk, demanding to see you and Ms. Plum right away."

"Stephanie," she corrected him, hating to hear them refer to her so formally.

Vince nodded that he heard her, but didn't say anything to her suggestion of using her first name.

"Who are the women?" Ranger asked, nearly smiling. It was a similar expression to the one he wore when he was about to kick down the door to a skip's house, but the right side of his lips were pressed tighter.

"It's Ms Pl—" Stephanie clearing her throat stopped him before he finished her last name "—ah…Stephanie's friends, sir: Mary Lou, Connie, and Lula. I told them you were off the clock because it was so late, but they insisted you would see them because it was urgent."

"What do you think, Babe?" Ranger asked, letting her make the decision since the plan was hers to begin with.

"It might be fun," she admitted. "Can they come up, or do we need to go down?"

Ranger pointed at the two guest chairs directly in front of his desk. "Take those out," he commanded. "Then bring them up to sit together on the sofa."

It was a standard-size sofa, but between the three of them, they would be tight, which would make them uncomfortable right off the bat. Sometimes, his ability to control any situation amazed Stephanie.

Six minutes later, he was still gripping her hips, refusing to let her get up, when Vince reappeared with the girls, who were strangely silent.

After ushering them to the couch as he'd been instructed, Vince nodded at his boss and then left, pulling the door mostly closed behind him.

"Ladies," Ranger greeted them with the first word, but Stephanie noticed, he didn't ask what they wanted. There were a dozen things they could have done to have made this easier, but he wasn't doing any of them. If anything, he didn't even seem interested in their presence, because after saying the single word, he began to absentmindedly play with some of the curls in her hair.

"We're sorry," Lula blurted out first, with Connie and Mary Lou agreeing on either side of her.

"For what?" Stephanie asked, trying to sound as disinterested as Ranger had, although she didn't succeed as well.

"We shouldn't have lied to you about the kidnapping," Connie began, hitting the nail on the head.

"We wanted you two together," Lula jumped in, "and it seemed like you needed help getting there, but we never meant for you to get hurt. You know that, don't you?"

Stephanie nodded, struggling to keep a smile from her face. "I know you guys wouldn't intentionally hurt me. What I don't know is why you tried to hide what you'd done after I got hurt."

"We were scared you'd get mad," Lula blurted out.

Then a deep voice came through the phone in her hand. "They didn't say anything because I told them not to."

"Tank?" Stephanie couldn't believe they still had the guys on the phone. This had worked out slightly better than she'd thought it would.

"Yeah, it's me," he admitted. "When we found out Connie's cousin had gone off the page and you got hurt, I knew Ranger would go on a rampage for revenge, so we tried to set it up to resolve everything so you guys wouldn't have to hold anybody accountable and you wouldn't find out that it had initially been our idea."

"Did you think a group this big could keep a secret like that?" Stephanie wondered. Knowing how much Connie and Lula liked to gossip, she was surprised they hadn't spilled the beans themselves.

"I was only thinking about the short-term," Tank confessed further.

While she was glad to see that they had realized that lying to them about the kidnapping had been a huge mistake, hearing the strain in Tank's voice was hard.

"What made you come to this realization?" Ranger asked, squeezing her hip in a way that felt like he was comforting her.

"It's freaking cold," Lester's voice came through the phone.

"And Mary Lou told us about Morelli's leg," Bobby said, adding another detail that didn't exactly seem to relate.

Seeing the confusion on Stephanie's face, Mary Lou explained, "I told them about Morelli before he left for the Navy and how he'd embarrassed you over the entire 'Burg. You got your revenge in a way that let him know how it felt, but once he apologized years later, the two of you became…friends. You've never held a grudge, but you hate being lied to or lied about."

"What would you have done differently?" Stephanie asked, remembering how her mother would always ask that question of her when she'd gotten in trouble for doing something wrong as a child.

There was an extended period of silence before Lula spoke first. "When you came in the bonds office to ask about Lisa, I wouldn't have lied about her having a picture of a boyfriend. I would have told you everything I knew then and come clean."

"I wouldn't have trusted Tony with an assignment like that," Connie spoke up next. "He's never been overly dependable, but I thought since he owed me a big favor, he'd do this as a chance to get out of my debt. But even if I had used him, I would have come clean and called Ranger as soon as Tony told me his guy had taken you. I would have told you exactly where she was as soon as I heard how different the reality was from the plan."

"We were just glad to have Beautiful back," Lester jumped in. "But in hindsight, after we found out who took her, I would have laid it all out there at the briefing the next day and not made it seem like there was just a suspect of unknown connection."

"So you still would have interfered in our lives, you just wouldn't have tried to cover it up when Stephanie got hurt?" Ranger asked, his voice hard and cold, which didn't seem to match the way his free hand was rubbing her thigh tenderly.

Mary Lou was the first one to answer. "Probably. You guys were miserable, and we tried to talk to you directly and you wouldn't listen, so we decided to try something different. I think if we'd just left it at that and not tried to force your hand by adding the stress of Steph getting taken, then it would have been okay. After you guys got together, we could have had a big 'I told you so' and laughed about it."

The silence grew…and grew… Stephanie wasn't sure if she should say something, but she felt that Ranger was intentionally holding back. Just when it looked like Lula was about to bust, Ranger took a deep breath and spoke up.

"As long as we're clear that we appreciated you wanting to help us, but the moment you scared Stephanie and the second she got hurt, a line was crossed. We know you didn't mean for it to happen, which was all the more reason to have told us about it sooner. But instead of coming clean, you developed a cover-up to try to deceive us about what happened, which is…insulting."

"We should have known better than to think we could pull one over on you," Bobby spoke up.

"Or Stephanie," Tank added, causing her to smile. "I'll never underestimate her again."

"You'd better not." Ranger was openly smiling now. "She's the one who figured out you guys were covering something up and then put the pieces together to get to the bottom of what really happened."

"So you ain't mad no more?" Lula asked, tentatively.

"Oh we're still mad, but we'll get over it," Ranger answered for her. When he looked at Stephanie, he smiled and added, "As soon as the guys are free and back home."

"Where are we?" Lester asked, not sounding pissed like Stephanie had assumed he'd be.

"You haven't figured it out yet?" Ranger almost seemed to be toying with him.

"I thought you'd shipped me to Siberia," Tank confessed.

"The duffle bag with extra hats gave that away," Ranger taunted.

"But since you managed to knock us out and get us secured wherever we are in under two hours, I'm guessing we're still close by," Tank said, impressing her by piecing together some clues.

"Plus, our pants aren't wet," Lester spoke up.

"Do you usually wet your pants when you travel?" Stephanie didn't understand what that comment had to do with their situation and didn't think through how she'd phrased the question.

Ranger immediately laughed out loud, and she could hear Tank at the very least matching Ranger's amusement. The women were smiling, with Connie trying to cover up her mouth, or maybe she was just covering up that her upper lip needed a fresh bleaching and she didn't want to draw attention to it now that there was a tentative peace.

"You're killing me here," Les answered, not sounding too irritated at her question. "The girls said we were covered in snow, but it's not melting on us, so we figured you'd just staged this somewhere. We're in a deep freezer, aren't we?"

Stephanie leaned back and tilted her head to look at Ranger's face. "What do you think? Have they learned their lesson?"

He nodded once, and an audible breath of relief went out from the women on the couch. "I'll send Hector a message to escort them to pick up the guys."

With that settled, Ranger gently nudged Stephanie to stand up, and he took her hand in his, kissing the knuckles. "If you ladies will excuse us, Hector will help you figure out what to do for the men. Stephanie and I have a prior engagement upstairs."

"Ranger, she was being treated at the hospital twenty-four hours ago," Bobby called out. "You've got to take it easy on her."

Ranger grimaced and then typed out a text on his phone before saying, "Tank and Les can feel free to use the sauna in the gym to warm up."

"What about me?" Bobby asked, sounding a little dejected to be left out.

"Comments like what you made to the group should make you aware of your status," he answered cryptically.

"You are going to let him out of the freezer, aren't you?" Stephanie asked as they began to move from the office.

In the hall, Ranger shrugged, as though he didn't care one way or the other. "I'm not letting him out, but I figure Hector will anyway."

"You're a mean man sometimes," Stephanie teased.

Ranger spun around and pinned her to the wall with his body, leaning in to prevent her from moving in any way. "It's not mean, but I do protect what's mine, and you are the thing I value above all others in caring for. The fact that he just announced to the group that we were going to have sex and that he assumed I wouldn't care for you and would only focus on my own needs... It needed to be called out for the bullshit it was."

She swallowed, not sure how to respond.

"You know I'd never hurt you, right?"

Slowly, her head moved up and down in agreement.

"And that my greatest pleasure is making sure you're satisfied?"

Her cheeks warmed, but she continued to silently agree.

"And that nothing is going to keep me from showing you how much I love you tonight? Whether that's exhausting you first or just watching you sleep, there's no limit to what I'd do for you," he pledged so sincerely, she couldn't disagree.

"But if I don't want to go to sleep yet?" she asked, looking up at him, amazed at the warmth in his eyes as he returned her gaze.

"Then, I'm not tired either, Babe, so let's see what we can do to pass the time until we're ready to rest." He nuzzled against her neck, and in less than a second and a half, her eyes were closed and she was finding it hard to keep weight on her knees.

Stephanie was only vaguely aware of people walking by when she heard Mary Lou's unmistakable voice say, "I knew they belonged together. They just needed a little push to get there."

"I'm glad it worked out for you, but if you guys could quit gawking at the boss and get to where we are before I lose the feeling completely in my ass, then I'd appreciate it," Lester's voice rose from the phone that appeared to still be on.

"We have strange friends," Stephanie whispered.

Ranger nodded. "We should keep them, because I don't think anybody else would have them." He pulled back, allowing Stephanie to take full control of her senses again. "You ready to head upstairs?"

"Yep," she quickly agreed. "We can finish our master plan tomorrow?"

"I thought we were done," he commented, hitting the call button on the elevator.

"You thought I'd forgotten about my mother?" Steph challenged.

"She didn't play a role in hiding details about your kidnapping, so I thought she'd be immune," Ranger confessed.

"Immune from the group treatment, but she still said some horrible things about you, and no matter why she did it, she's going to have to understand I won't take that from her anymore," Stephanie explained, wondering why it seemed so easy to think about standing up to her mother now, when it had felt impossible before.

The doors opened on seven, and Ranger managed to guide Stephanie out while continuing to keep his body close to hers. "You know, hearing you stand up for me is a turn-on."

"Then I'll be sure to do it when you're around."

"Dios," he whispered, almost as though he hadn't intended to make that comment aloud. She knew being involved with Ranger would mean some of his strength would probably rub off on her. What she hadn't expected was for him to pick up her habits as well.


	22. Best Served Cold

_The great JE created all the characters here._

_Jenny (JenRar) thank you for your hard work as the beta on this story. Once again, you've made what I've written even better._

**Chapter 22 – Best Served Cold**

"How do you want to play this?" Ranger asked, sitting outside the Plum house.

Stephanie had woken up at 1100 hours and announced they were going to have some fun finishing the plan to take care of everyone who'd conspired against them. Not able to refuse her anything, he'd informed her that he was at her disposal for whatever she had in mind.

Unfortunately, what she'd had in mind was going to her parents' house to crash their lunch and not staying in and finishing what they'd begun last night...and continued through the early hours of the morning. Although, based on how slowly she'd moved when getting out of bed that morning, it was probably best they take a break. He'd been as tender as he could be, but there was no denying that the sheer number of times they'd come together had made her sore.

When she'd come out of the bedroom, he was surprised by her outfit. Clearly she was beautiful, no matter what she wore, but he'd expected to see her more covered up. He may have been gentle, but he'd been thorough, and her body bore a number of large and obvious marks from their first night together as a couple. She was in a pair of stretch pants with a low-cut scoop-collar shirt. Her hair was twisted behind her head, so her entire neck, collarbone, and upper shoulders were on display. Without moving around behind her, he could count eight marks from his seat across the room. When he'd asked about her reasoning for going in with everything on display, she'd laughed and said she was just trying to draw out the enemy. There'd been an evil gleam in her eye, so he'd decided to sit back and enjoy the ride, knowing the show would no doubt be worth it.

As they drove over, he asked why she waited to talk to her mother. "It's best served cold," she answered cryptically.

"You're going to lock her in a freezer?" Ranger asked, knowing it wasn't what she meant, but unable to figure it out.

Stephanie laughed, and even though he figured it was at his expense for asking a ridiculous question, the sound was soothing, and he found himself smiling along with her. "No, but I needed time to get over the hurt and anger about what she did so I could be more objective and make the punishment fit the crime a little better. That's what I always figured the expression meant."

Then it all fell into place. "Revenge is a dish best served cold," he put it together.

"That's right," she agreed. "Just ask Tank." Once again, they drove along laughing and Ranger wondered if life could get much better than this.

In the Porsche outside her parents' house, the only directions she provided were, "Follow my lead and keep your blank face in place no matter what I say, all right?"

He nodded, knowing that was something he could do, and hopped out to open her door.

They were three steps from the porch when the front door opened. Mrs. Plum stood there, wiping her hands on the half apron that she seemed to wear to accent every outfit. "Stephanie," Helen greeted them, stepping back and doing a quick sweep behind them to see if anyone was watching.

That was the first test of Ranger's blank face. He knew Frank had been in the Army back when the draft ensured most men served their country, but Helen seemed to have the more instinctual awareness of her surroundings.

"What a pleasant surprise," her mother continued, sounding pleased. The moment her eyes stopped surveying the neighborhood and fully took in the people in front of her, the smile fell. "Stephanie, what on earth happened to you?"

Mrs. Mazur walked behind her daughter and laughed at the question, "If you don't recognize a hickey when you see one, Helen, then you and I need to have a little talk, and I finally have the answer about why you're such an uptight pain in the—"

"Mother!" Helen interrupted before Edna could finish her thought. "I know what a hickey is, I just don't understand why Stephanie appears to be covered in them."

"Because she's a lucky girl going out with a man who evidently knows his way around a body," Edna continued. "He hit all the obvious spots and a few lesser-known hot areas too."

"Frank!" Helen called out for her husband, although Ranger felt it was more to interrupt her mother than because she needed backup.

"Hey, pumpkin," Frank called out when he realized who was there. "Ranger." He stuck his hand out, and Ranger immediately shook it. It was unusual to get any kind of greeting from Stephanie's father, and he refused to turn down what he believed was an olive branch of sorts.

"Do you have enough to add two places to the table for lunch?" Stephanie asked. Her voice was full of forced sincerity, and Ranger knew she was baiting her mother. Nothing was a greater insult to a 'Burg woman's skills as a hostess than having to admit she didn't have enough food to feed unexpected guests.

"Don't be ridiculous, Stephanie," her mother scolded. "Set the table for you and your guest, and I'll bring out lunch for everyone."

Stephanie held her head up and followed her mother with none of the usual trepidation that seemed to come over her when she had to enter the kitchen without backup. Ranger watched until the swinging door closed behind her and realized there were even more marks on the back of her neck. He didn't even remember giving her a couple of them, but he knew anytime he did something that evoked a response from her, he tended to keep at it, so it wasn't surprising to see so much evidence about their night together.

"I'm assuming there's a reason my daughter looks like she was around a toothless vampire all night?" Mr. Plum asked, speaking more words than Ranger ever recalled him saying at once.

Fortunately, the women came back out of the kitchen before Ranger was forced to reply that the reason Stephanie looked like that was because she was a damn sexy woman with a sex drive that matched Ranger's and he'd spent all night worshiping her the way she deserved and the way he'd wanted to for years.

Once everyone was seated, Mrs. Plum spoke first, "What's the occasion for your visit today?"

Stephanie held up a finger and finished chewing a bite of the roast beef sandwich before replying, "Ranger and I are going to move to Miami." She immediately took another bite of her lunch and looked around, as though she'd casually mentioned a sale at the mall.

"What do you mean you're moving to Miami?" Helen gasped. "When? Why?"

"That's a lot of questions," Stephanie calmly replied, perfectly in control of her expression and forcing the tempo of the conversation to stay slow. If Ranger weren't so caught off guard by the announcement that he was moving, he might have enjoyed her masterful manipulation of the people around the table.

"Ranger and I are together now, and since we're going to share our lives, we decided it would be easier to do that in a place where we aren't being judged constantly, so we're going to move closer to his family, where there's an office of RangeMan to work from."

He couldn't believe how beautifully she was lying to her family. Stephanie knew his immediate family was all in Newark, not Miami, although most of his extended family was in southern Florida.

"What do you mean a place where you aren't judged?" Helen demanded.

"The last time we were here, you made it abundantly clear that you thought Ranger was a horrible person who killed people, associated with lowlifes, and was one step away from being a thug himself," Stephanie answered and then took a long sip of iced tea before picking up the sandwich once more. "I refuse to have the man I love talked about that way, so we're leaving the place that seems to believe lies about him."

"You don't need to do that," Helen argued. "Most people consider him to be an upstanding businessman."

"Most people…" Stephanie repeated, "But not you?"

Helen put her fork down and gave up pretending to eat her potato salad. "The last time you were here, we may have had a slight misunderstanding."

"No, we didn't," Stephanie disagreed. "You said horrible things. I understood every one of them. So, we're leaving, and we have no plans to return for visits."

"Now wait," Frank spoke up, which seemed to surprise everyone at the table. "Helen, I told you this fool-brained idea would come back to bite you. You tell her the truth right now because I'm not losing my daughter over this."

Helen took a drink, which appeared to be water, much to Ranger's relief. "Some of us who know you well thought you'd been unhappy lately and wanted to help you."

"You decided to make me happy by insulting the man I love?" Stephanie asked, pointing out how ridiculous that sounded.

"You do love him..." Helen seemed genuinely pleased, then she shook her head in much the same way Stephanie would if she was trying to clear her thoughts. "No, I wanted to help you do something about how you felt by making it clear in front of him what you thought about him. You'd never say it unless you were forced, and I knew if someone attacked him, you'd get mad, rush to his defense, and then speak honestly before you realized what you were confessing."

"So you pretended to not like Ranger?" Her voice was dripping with doubt.

"Yes," Helen replied emphatically.

"I know it sounds ridiculous, but Mary Lou came by and talked your mother into it," Frank spoke up, obviously taking the idea of his daughter leaving to heart. "I don't know why they thought it had to be done behind your backs, and I know she was horrible to you, but I'm telling you, her intentions were good, even if her methods were harsh."

"I don't know, Daddy," Stephanie replied, playing to what he'd said. "They were so smooth coming out of her mouth, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized she's never said a single positive thing about Ranger."

Edna finally made some noise at the end of the table. "Then you've never been out with her, because every chance she gets, she tells something about you and the hot bounty hunter working together, and she brags about his fancy cars and his big building. She says plenty of good stuff; she just never says it to you."

"That's just his bank account," Stephanie said, cutting her grandmother off. "It's easy to love appearances. I need to know how you feel about the man."

"Obviously I like him," Helen said quickly. "I was one of the first people to agree to Mary Lou's plan to get you two together."

"That's not telling me anything new."

Stephanie was obviously trying to push her mother into something, so Ranger sat back and watched, wondering who was going to win.

Helen broke first. "I like the way he watches over you. Every time I see him with you, it's like he is literally shielding you with his body. Whenever your cars explode or your apartment is broken into, he's the one that comes to rescue you and gives you whatever you need to keep you going. You and Joe could have made a life of sorts together, but I could see that you wouldn't be really happy with him. Every time you and I have been out and Ranger has appeared, you light up like you do when I bring out dessert. It's that expression every mother wants to see on their child's face. I don't honestly know the man, but I know how he acts toward you, and that's enough for me to respect him and welcome him into the family."

By Plum family standards, that was a long, emotion-ridden speech. Helen reached for her goblet, took a drink, and then made a face, as though the water that hit her tongue wasn't nearly strong enough to help her recover from everything she'd just said.

"If all that's true, then what might you have done differently to have avoided this whole mess?" Stephanie asked, turning the question on her mother that she'd said she always had to answer as a child when she got in trouble.

Helen smiled slightly, and Ranger imagined her remembering a time when the roles were reversed between them. "Instead of trying to trick you, I would have told you more directly that you were scaring people with your snappiness and temper and that there was a growing group of people who were ready to intervene if the two of you didn't hurry up and admit you wanted to be together."

"We weren't that bad," Stephanie defended weakly.

"Don't give me that," Edna spoke up. "Stiva's called and told me they were willing to arrange a time for me to come privately check out the body on display in order to keep me from having to bring you as my escort, because you were scaring all the other mourners. If you were considered more frightening than I was, then you definitely needed an intervention...or maybe a trip to that store on the east side with all those graphic toys…"

"Anyway," Helen thankfully interrupted so that Ranger didn't have to hear the old woman talk about sex toys, "The point is, I could have found a better way, other than pretending to not like him in order to get you to point out his good points where he could hear it. I'm sorry for not being more direct and honest about what I was doing, but at the time, I thought it was for your own good."

With those words, Stephanie's face finally softened and she smiled at her mother. "If you'd led with that, we could have avoided all this trouble. Next time, just tell me to stop acting like a brat, but don't try to trick me. It will only come back to hurt you, because you know I can't let stuff go until I get to the bottom of it."

Helen nodded, as though she knew that lesson well. "Are you still going to move to Miami?" Her voice sounded very unsure if she should be pressing the point just yet.

"We were never going to move to Miami. I just wanted to let you know what it felt like to be forced to say things you didn't want to say in front of a group because someone was lying to your face."

Frank sat back in his chair, but raised his fork in his wife's direction, "I told you this was going to blow up on you."

"Oh hush, Frank," Helen chided him. "I told you that she'd be mad, but in the end, it would all work out, and that's what's most important here." After straightening the tablecloth in front of her nervously, she added, "Now, who's ready for dessert?"

An hour and a half later, Ranger walked Stephanie back to the Porsche at the curb and smiled at how drowsy she looked. True, she hadn't gotten much sleep the night before, but he had his suspicions that it was just as much to do with the third slice of chocolate cake she'd eaten before they left that had her in the near sugar coma. But she looked content and happy, and it was an expression that suited her.

"That was fun," she commented lightly as they drove back to Haywood.

"Dessert?" he wondered, not assuming she was referring to anything but the copious amounts of sugar her mother was willing to buy her daughter's affection with.

"Well, that too, but putting everybody in their place," Stephanie explained. "It's too bad we're done, because I'd love the chance to plan something else."

"You know..." Ranger picked up her hand and kissed the knuckles of her fingers before placing it on his thigh. "The Secret Service sent me a file overnight about a money laundering ring they've been trying to break, but they can't figure out how to come up with a plan where the brains behind the operation gets called out."

"Secret Service?" She seemed confused by the branch commissioning the work.

"This involves printing fake money, which is a Secret Service matter, not FBI," he explained. "The point is, I was going to turn it down because I was more interested in staying close to home…but if you're looking for a way to keep planning intrigue, you might want to flip through the folder first and see if something comes to mind."

"You'd let me help you work an assignment?" She sounded shocked, which caused Ranger to vow that he'd work tirelessly to rebuild whatever damage he'd done to her self-image over the years if she thought there was a chance he didn't want her to work with him. "There's no one else I want to work with," he replied, lacing his fingers through hers.

"Maybe it will help me to beat the whole Bombshell Bounty Hunter nickname, since the Secret Service probably doesn't like references to bombs," she laughed.

Waiting until he'd parked in his reserved space, Ranger shifted in his seat to better face her, intentionally letting his eyes rake over her body before settling on her eyes. "Then they're shit out of luck, Babe, because everything about you is the bomb."

Her movement was so unexpected that when she jumped and flung herself at him, he hardly had time to react before her lips were attached to his and the windows of the car began to fog. She pulled back slightly and whispered, "That was the corniest and sweetest thing you've ever said."

"Come upstairs with me, and I'm sure I can be even sweeter," he taunted, knowing it was true if he could speak in Spanish. Somehow, being open and honest was easier in that language than English, but he'd gladly translate if it meant another of those surprise kiss attacks from his woman.

She laughed and answered, "Lucky for you, I have a really high tolerance for sugar," before climbing out of the car.

They rode to seven in relative silence, with Ranger stuck in his thoughts about how amazing it was to be with Stephanie. He'd known she was the woman for him since they met in that dinner at Connie's insistence. Knowing their friends had once again worked to push them together wasn't overly surprising. Hopefully they had their act together enough to make it without any more subtle persuasion. They'd intended it to be gentle, but that might have been the flaw in their plan.

Stephanie and Ranger were both forces of nature, and when they came together, it was strong and wild and with complete abandon. Their friends had tried to ease them together, but what they'd actually needed was to collide with no boundaries so that their lives immediately mixed and meshed. She was willing to work a case with him that he was convinced she could strategize brilliantly, which would be one more way he could support her, and she could be his partner in life.

He'd gotten a text from Hector that morning that the guys had made it out of the freezer unharmed. He'd make a note to buy them all new winter parkas and the newest model stun gun to commemorate the night they'd spent in the freezer and thank them for helping him get his head out of his ass so he could finally see what had been right in front of him all along.

Stephanie captured his attention once more. "Ranger, are you just going to stand there grinning, or are you going to join me?"

He gave what he'd heard Stephanie refer to as his wolf grin and nodded that he was definitely coming. Wild, complete abandon, passionate partner…hell yeah, he was coming. No persuasion necessary.

_A/N: Thank you for coming along for another Babe adventure with me. I know I was a little rusty after such a long time away, but your support kept me typing as I got back into the swing of things. I'm going to take a little time off, and maybe return with a holiday story closer to Christmas. In the meantime, I'm going to start working on the sequel to A Killer Cup of Joe and will update my profile with notes about the progress and timing for publication. _

_Thank you again for all your reviews, private messages and e-mails. You guys are the greatest! _


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